Cleaning With SOAP
by diamonddust131
Summary: Christine is a young spy working for SOAP, Spies Organized Against Peace. A routine undercover mission at Malibu University turns into the adventure of a lifetime, as she is forced to deal with her fair share of pesky WOOHP agents, cooky baddies, and the mean girl on campus, Mandy! Will Chris be able to survive college life? Updated Frequently. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Cleaning with SOAP Part 1

It was a particularly eerie night in an unnamed metropolis. The moon hanging high above seemed to give off more radiance than usual and the thick fog that was slowly wrapping itself around the city was almost unnatural. It ascended high into the skyline, reaching the top of the many high rise buildings in town.

It was from one of these many buildings that a person could be seen jumping from structure to structure as if their life depended on it. Perhaps it did. The man, now gasping for air, leaped off another skyscraper and onto a much smaller one, losing his footing in the process. The black briefcase he had been tightly clutching to his chest up until that point fell out of his grasp, as his body rolled a couple of times across the rooftop. He promptly got his whits about him and practically pounced on the object as soon as he could. There was no way he could lose what was inside the case, he thought. He would rather die than part with its contents.

"...I-I don't see anyone following me anymore," he whispered, so low that he could hardly even hear himself, despite the city below being as quiet as a mouse.

The man's reddened eyes inspected the shadowy area behind him and he was relieved to see nothing there. He hadn't the slightest idea where his pursuer had gotten off to, though he certainly wasn't complaining about their disappearance.

However, he knew he had spoken too soon when a shadow momentarily blocked out the moonlight hitting him. Someone else then landed a few steps away. He let out a piercing gasp, while the woman in the black catsuit glared at him with her cold, blue eyes. Because the rest of her face was covered by a black ski mask, the man now trembling was unable to discern her identity. He supposed that hardly mattered at the moment though.

"...You're trying my patience," the woman said, noticeably upset with having to play this game of cat and mouse. Holding out her hand, she added, "Hand over that briefcase if you value your life."

"N-Never!" the man answered, trying to swallow his fear. "I would never hand it over to the likes of you and your associates! I don't even want to think of the state the would could be in if you used what was inside the briefcase for your own selfish goals!"

The speech, while riveting, only served to enrage the woman going after him. She took a step forward, causing him to take a step back. She took another step forward and he another step backward. This continued until the man nearly lost his balance. There was no more rooftop for him to walk on. While it was a dire situation for sure, he smiled at the fact it was one he could use to his advantage.

"...L-Like I said, I would rather die than give up this briefcase!" he exclaimed.

"...You wouldn't seriously jump. Stop bluffing," the woman replied.

His claim was no bluff. The man allowed himself go tumbling off the building, intending to destroy himself as well as the item in his possession. Alarmed by this, the woman quickly sprang into action by pulling out an expandable bungee cable from her utility belt and tying it to a nearby chimney. She then jumped off the building herself. The man, assured of his victory, was stunned to see her go to such lengths to chase after him. She straightened out her body, which in turn made her fall faster. Afterward, just as it looked as if the two would hit the pavement in bloody chunks, she grabbed hold of the man and dragged the two forward through the window of a cake shop. Glass and fallen cakes were strewn about the dark room of the shop, as the man with the briefcase managed to get to his feet first, running toward the back exit. At the same time the woman broke off her cable and made chase, her target began knocking things over in an attempt to impede her. It appeared to work, he gaining a sizable lead on her as he burst out the back door and into a narrow alley way.

"You're seriously wasting your time if you think you can outrun me," said a voice that greeted him.

He was more than a little dumbfounded to see the woman in black lying in wait for him outside.

"H-How...?" he began.

"I'm no longer asking for the briefcase."

The woman reached down at her belt and tossed something at the man suddenly. As he braced himself, a thick veil of smoke burst forth from the balls the woman had thrown, completely blinding and confusing her target. Grunts, groans, and the sound of flesh being hit then sounded off in the alley. With one final kick, the man was sent flying from the smoke cloud and into a nearby brick wall.

"D-Damn it all!" he growled, battered and bloodied from the beating he had moments ago been given. His hands then felt against his person frantically for something that was no longer there. "N-No! T-The briefcase! Where did I...?!"

The answer became apparent soon enough. The woman in black stepped forward, now in ownership of the item in question. The man got to his feet and attempted to take it back, yet a right hook floored him, ending any hope of a rescue attempt.

"Thank you for your cooperation," the woman stated, walking away as she did so.

"D-Don't think you're going to get away with this, spy! I-I have accomplices! I have allies! We will hunt you and the rest of your damned comrades down if we have to to get that briefcase back!"

The catsuit clad women didn't bother with a response, instead firing her bungee cable off at another building, rising up, and disappearing into the fog shrouded night. Being left behind with nothing but his shattered pride, the man pounded his fist into the ground.

"Damn you, SOAP!" he screamed, his voice echoing throughout the quiet city.

* * *

With her mission a success, the woman in black headed on back to base. The pitch black corridor she was walking down was filled with the distinct sound of her high heeled boots hitting the ground. Lights on the flooring lit up the path ahead as she moved, allowing her to see where she was going. Eventually, she arrived at the end of the corridor, walked through some double doors, and finally entered an extensive, circular room. The area itself was quite gray and there was nothing of interest in it other than a desk at the end and a giant monitor behind it. It made the place seem quite empty as such. The woman in black made her way down the carpet leading up to the desk and got down on one knee, just as someone sitting in a swiveling chair turned to her.

"I have completed the mission," the woman stated, holding up the briefcase.

"...You have done very well, Agent C. Good work."

The man, possessing well kept black hair, an eye patch over his right eye, a red scar running down his other, and a black mask covering the entirety of his jaw, took the briefcase Agent C slid to him and wasted little time in clicking it open. He then pulled a strange, metal cube out of it that was no bigger than his fist. Agent C was, to some extent, surprised to see the thing she had worked so hard to get appeared so unimpressive.

"So, how did the mission go?"

Agent C replied, "Good. Other than having to chase the guy who had that thing through half the city, I experienced no difficulties."

"That's good to hear." Even whilst talking to her, the man with the eye patch did not take his lone eye off the strange cube in his grasp. Agent C could tell he was even smiling, even though his mouth was hidden from sight. "You must be getting hot in that mask. Why don't you go ahead and take it off. Your identity is safe with me."

C rolled her eyes at the remark, but did as told and removed the ski mask from her face. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she really had been beginning to grow a bit warm in it. From the concealment came an attractive young woman who couldn't have been older than nineteen years old. C parted her hand through her waist length, silver colored hair prior to using a scrunchie to tie it into an equally long ponytail. No matter how many times the man in the eye patch saw her, he was always taken aback by her beauty.

"So...what is it?" C asked, pointing to the mystery cube.

"This..." the man started, standing to allow Agent C to see the black suit he was wearing. The red undershirt was overkill, in her opinion, but he always dressed like this, so she supposed she shouldn't have been so disgusted. "...is the Cube of Confusion. With it, our plans to destroy the World Organization Of Human Protection should progress that much smoother."

"WOOHP," snarled C through clenched teeth. "As much as the thought of that organization being destroyed sounds good, you still haven't explained how this so called 'Cube of Confusion' is supposed to help us in the first place."

"That's classified information, Agent C."

"C-Classified information?! Scar, I'm the one who went a got the stupid cube in the first place! Don't you think I have a right to...?!"

Scar interrupted C's rant. "Agent C, what does our organization stand for?"

"...What?"

"I'm asking you what we're all about!"

"...W-We're out to destroy WOOHP, right?"

Scar shook his head. "You are only half right, my spy! Our elite group of operatives, Spies Organized Against Peace, is not only out to get rid of WOOHP, but **any** organization bent on preserving peace!" In dramatic fashion and forcing a bead of sweat to roll down the back of C's head, Scar added, "Dogooders like Jerry Lewis and his accursed spy organization will be cleansed from the world after we're done!"

There was another break in the conversation.

"...That was probably the lamest thing I've ever heard," said C in a deadpan manner.

Scar's expression fell abruptly. "...W-What?"

"I-I mean, I agree with the 'destroy WOOHP' part, but don't you think having a group called SOAP is a bit silly?"

For a moment, Scar wanted to get angry. He wanted to lash out and berate his agent for criticizing his noble cause. That wasn't the answer, however. Exhaling, he managed to contain his rage as he cleared his throat.

"I have a new assignment for you, Agent C," he then said.

"A new mission already? Well, what is it?"

As if replying to her, the lights in the room randomly dimmed and the screen behind Scar flashed to life. A chair then popped up from a trap door in the flooring, promptly sitting a bewildered C down in it. It was afterward that the screen on the wall first displayed a map of the United States before focusing in on the state of California.

"Your newest assignment is going to be a bit...different from what you're used to," said Scar, sitting back down in his swiveling chair. "I wonder if you're up for it."

"So long as it's in the benefit of SOAP, I'll do whatever is asked of me," said C plainly.

Scar grinned. "That's what I like to hear. Anyway, your assignment this time will be to go to Malibu, California and go uncover as a normal university student at the local school of higher learning: Malibu University."

Though C had stated she was willing to do anything, this was a bit much. "W-Why do I have to do something like that?! I don't understand!"

"Relax, agent. The reason I'm sending you there out of the blue like this is because there's a quantum physics professor who works at the school who's latest invention I believe would help our organization greatly. His name is Dr. Heisenberg and the invention he is currently working on is one that will somehow allow the user to move at the speed of light. That's about all the intelligence we have at the moment, so it will be up to you to not only learn more about this invention, but to steal it."

"I...see."

It made sense to C why SOAP would have interested in a device like that. Moving at the speed of light would give anyone an advantage over their enemies, yet there was still one thing about this mission that was bothering her.

"I don't understand why I have to go undercover," she stated. "Would it not be easier for me to just go and steal the invention outright?"

"Hmph. You **would** have a point, if it weren't for the rumors of WOOHP agents attending Malibu University. It would be far too risky for you to go after Dr. Heisenberg directly if that's the case."

C groaned. "I-I suppose. I...guess I have no choice. Fine. I will go to Malibu University and go undercover as a college student. I-I'm not sure I'm the right choice for this mission though, Scar. I mean, I don't know the first thing about being an ordinary college student."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll catch on fast," Scar replied with a smile. "I've already sent the university your 'transfer papers.' We've given you the highest grades and stated you were one of the best students at the prestigious SOAP University."

"...You don't have much of an imagination, do you?"

The lights in the room brightened and Scar pressed another button on his desk, revealing a host of items sitting on a panel. Agent C did not recognize any of them.

"Despite the fact that this is an undercover mission, you're still going to need gadgets. This time, however, I've had to design them a bit...differently. They're intended to be functional, but look like common items a regular college girl like you would have." Scar laughed at his own remarks, but C simply glowered. "Here, we have the All Purpose Fountain Pen Laser. It's not only handy for taking notes during lectures, but for blasting right through diamond an lead like paper."

C took the black pen and noted that it really did look harmless. Had Scar not told her it was a gadget, she probably would have accidentally cut her hand off.

"Next, we have the Knockout Gas Apple Earrings. I think they're pretty self explanatory, but basically, they release a sweet smelling knockout gas that puts anyone unfortunate enough to breathe it in asleep. Oh, they look good on you as well!"

"...You do know my ears aren't even pierced, right?" said C.

Scar ignored the remark. "Our next gadget is the Faux Silk Invisibility Scarf. As soon as you wrap it around your neck, it turns your entire body invisible. It's a shame though."

"What's a shame?"

"It's a shame no one will see how stylish you are because they can't see you!"

"...I-I don't care about stuff like that! The gadget works, right?!"

"D-Don't get so bent out of shape. Of course it works! All my gadgets work! Unlike that nincompoop Jerry Lewis' inventions!"

"Oh no..." Chris mumbled, understanding that she had made a huge mistake.

For the next couple of minutes Scar began ranting to no one in particular about how his creative genius was ten times that of WOOHP's leader. C only sighed at the display, forgetting that agitating her boss always had dire consequences.

"And **that's **why his Lip Lock Laser Gun pales in comparison to my own Tongue Tied Beam Rifle!"

"...Okay. Sure. Why not? Is that all the gadgets you have to give me or what?"

Scar, fixing his tie, regained his composure. "N-No. There's one more. This one is an old favorite: the Expandable Bungee Cable. I saw no reason to alter the design of this one, as I can't honestly imagine you carrying around an inconspicuous bungee cable around with you at all times."

C agreed. "Well, if that's everything, I better..."

"WAIT!"

The room actually shook quite violently in reaction to Scar's command. Nearly falling over in her chair, C dared not move until her leader got through saying what he wanted to say.

"...I nearly forgot one last item," Scar, picking up some fallen over family portraits on his desk, said, "Here. Take it."

Agent C was tossed a small, black, and rectangular object she couldn't discern at first. It was solely when she opened it did she realize it was a compact, the sort of things girls used to apply makeup and check their complexion using the tiny mirror inside. Strangely, the she was given one appeared different from the norm, containing a very high tech bottom with buttons and a beeping screen.

"...You do know I don't use makeup, right?" she said.

"Yes, I'm aware. It's such a shame too. You're not the prettiest sight to look at first thing in the morning without it..."

C angrily slammed the compact shut and restrained herself from choking out Scar with her bare hands.

"It's not actually a compact," Scar stated. " It's called a Z-Powder and it's more or less a communicator. It's how we'll be able to talk with one another while you're undercover. It does a lot more than allow you to speak with me, however. With one push of a button, it can also change what you're wearing. Rather handy for slipping in and out of your catsuit. It also has a couple more features, but I think I'll let you mess with the thing and figure them out yourself."

"A little unorthodox, but I suppose it will have it's uses."

"One last thing, agent. For this mission, you won't be using any code names."

One of C's eyelids rose upon hearing this. "...What do you mean?"

"You're going to be using your **real** name."

That was the last thing Agent C had expected to hear at this briefing. She honestly found herself speechless for a bit.

"...I-I don't understand! You want me to go around using my real name?! Wouldn't it be smarter to use a cover name?!" she cried, becoming visibly upset.

"You sure do always look quite volatile whenever we discuss your real name...Christine," Scar answered.

"D-Don't call me that..." Christine mumbled, snarling under her breath.

"Well, whether you like it or not, I've already written the name 'Christine' on your transcripts, so it's far too late for me to change anything."

So that was it then. Begrudgingly, it seemed Christine had no choice but to accept the circumstances. She wouldn't have minded them so much if hearing her actual name didn't always stir up so many painful memories inside of her.

_I-If it were any other name..._

"Are you all ready to go then?"

"H-Huh?" Scar's abrupt question snapped Christine from her deep thinking. "Y-Yes. I suppose so." Standing and saluting, she added, "If it is for SOAP and its goals, I am willing to do anything."

Scar smiled at this. "Yes, I really do enjoy your enthusiasm."

He pressed a button and another trap door on the floor opened, this one causing Christine to fall straight down into the crevice. The sound of her screaming in surprise faded soon afterward and Scar went back to admiring the Cube of Confusion in his fingertips.

"As much as I detest Jerry Lewis, I'm beginning to see what he enjoyed WOOHPing his agents so much..."

* * *

The still shrieking Christine fell straight out of the sky and crashed down into a big bush, scattering green leaves all over the place. It took her a couple moments, but she managed to stand, groan, and brush herself off. She then glanced upward at the blue and cloudless, baffled at how she could have been dumped off in the middle of nowhere from SOAP headquarters.

"...Where am I? And how the heck is it suddenly daytime again?"

One thing was for sure: Christine definitely wasn't at SOAP anymore. The vast amount of young people walking and talking everywhere around made her confident of that. The open area she was in was surrounded by a multitude of buildings, all sized and shaped differently. Even with the nearby sign informing her of the fact, Christine quickly surmised she was at Malibu University. The transportation to the institution might have been rough, although she certainly couldn't complain about the speed.

"Good. The sooner I retrieve this Dr. Heisenberg's invention, the sooner I can get this silly mission over with."

Of course, that was easier said than done. She might have been in the right place, yet finding one man on an expansive campus like this without directions was going to be a challenge. Christine wondered why Scar hadn't simply told her of the good doctor's whereabouts before sending her on her way.

"...Whatever. There should be a school directory or something around here. I just have to..."

Suddenly and without warning, an incredibly high and nasally voice punctured the depths of Christine's ears, nearly rupturing them in the process. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?! Were you hiding in that bush because you dropped something, or because you don't want anyone to see that hideous outfit?! You really should consider shopping somewhere other than the flea market!"

Christine moved her head up at the young woman insulting her, unsure what to make of the situation. The girl, pleased with her taunting, laughed a couple of times in the same manner as she spoke. It was the equivalent of nails against a chalk board to Christine, who couldn't cover her ears any faster.

"...Who are you?" said Christine in a deadpan tone.

The girl gasped in response to Christine's question, apparently offended such an thing even needed to be asked. She flipped her wavy, waist length black hair back before smiling, exposing her flawless teeth. For reasons Christine couldn't understand, the simple gesture caused her irritation to increase.

"You don't know **me**?! Everyone on campus knows **me**!" the girl exclaimed, with the mole under her left eye twitching alongside her eyelid. "I'm **Mandy**! What, are you new to Mali-U or something? Ha! You must be! No one attending this school on a long term basis would ever be caught dead in an outfit like **that**!"

It was only when Mandy poked fun at Christine's clothing a second time did the latter realize she was no longer dressed in her spy catsuit, but an outfit befitting that of a normal girl her age. There was no doubt in her mind Scar was behind the abrupt wardrobe change.

"I'm not understanding what my clothes have to do with anything."

Many was both confused and appalled by the statement. "W-What's your problem? How can you feel good if you don't even **look** good?! Everyone knows it's what's on the outside that counts!"

Mandy laughed again and Christine found herself wanting to rip the young woman's head off more and more by the second. Personal looks meant nothing to a spy like her, though judging from Mandy's overall appearance, it seemed to be the only thing that mattered to her. Christine had to admit the girl was rather pretty, possessing perfectly tanned skin and just the right amount of makeup to accentuate her features.

It was just unfortunate her attitude wasn't remotely as attractive.

"...I can't figure out why you're talking to me right now, so if you don't want anything, leave me be," Christine then stated. "I have more important things to do then waste my time on you."

"W-What?! Y-You can't talk to me like that!" replied Mandy, her face reddening. "Y-You're just some newbie! You should be lucky someone like me would even bother wasting her breath on the likes of you! Oh, you're gonna pay for this! TR-EEEEEE-ENT!"

Mandy whistled and soon enough, the sound of a motor vehicle was heard approaching she and Christine. Then, a well dressed young man driving a cart for two pulled up, looking both terrified and pleased to see the woman who had called for him.

"Y-Yes, Mandy?" said Trent in a low voice.  
"TRENT!" howled Mandy, inducing a jump of fright out of Trent. "Do something about **her**!"

Mandy pointed a well manicured finger at Christine and Trent in turn moved his head to her. He wasn't really sure what Mandy wanted him to do, as he was only an intern.

"Y-You have to be kidding me..." said Christine under her breath.

The stupidity of what was happening was becoming too much for her to bear. Gritting her teeth, both Mandy and Trent began trembling in fear at the fierce and volatile expression she was now giving them.

"Listen here, both of you! Get lost this instant, unless you want to be eviscerated!"

That was all two needed to hear. Mandy quickly hoped inside her personal cart and told Trent to punch it ahead of the vehicle zooming off, leaving a trail of exhaust in their wake.

"...And that's why I can't stand dealing with other people," Christine muttered. "Damn. I probably should have asked them if they knew where I could find Dr. Heisenberg."

Something in the pocket of her denim skirt started to beep, so Christine found a safe place to hide before pulling out her Z-Powder and opening it. Scar's face then appeared on the top screen and he waved to his agent, who rolled her eyes in response.

"Hello, Christine! I'm glad to see you're doing well and have made it to Malibu University unscathed," he said.

"I thought I told you not to call me that," Christine said in response.

"Oh, yes. I had forgotten. Silly me."

"Like hell you did..."

Ignoring the remark, Scar asked, "How's the mission going so far?"

"Other than you sticking me in these stupid clothes, everything is fine."

"Oh, that? You needed to blend in, Agent C, so I took the liberty of picking you out a very cute outfit for your first day of school!"

Christine regretted bringing up the matter after hearing this. "...I haven't been able to locate Dr. Heisenberg yet. I was hoping you could shed some light on that."

Scar nodded. "Heisenberg should be in the West Hall on campus teaching a lecture at this very moment. Fortunately for you, I made sure to sign you up for his class, so you'd better hurry and find his room, because class starts in five minutes. You do want to make a good impression on your first day, right?"

Christine, unwilling to hear Scar chuckle at his own corny remarks, slammed her Z-Powder shut post haste. "...I'm already tired of college life..."

* * *

Although being a spy had its perks, it did nothing in terms of helping Christine navigate her way around the expansive Malibu University. Finding Dr. Heisenberg's classroom had been a harder task than she expected, much harder than some of her mission even. Of course, trying to get through crowds of unruly students who seemed to have nothing better to do than impede her path certainly contributed to her woes.

"Just made it," she said, as she rushed into the lecture hall and found a seat. "...I-Is this what a college classroom is supposed to look like?"

Most of her schooling had been done at SOAP headquarters, even from a young age, so being in a giant classroom with hundreds of other students was somewhat daunting. Her seat was so high up, she could hardly see the older gentlemen scribbling something on a blackboard at the front of the class. He wrote his name down in white chalk and Christine was relieved to see the man was indeed the Dr. Heisenberg she was searching for.

"Now then, where's his invention?"

Her eyes scoured the large room, though Christine couldn't find anywhere she thought the professor might have hidden his speed of light invention. She guessed that made sense. If it were here, a classroom full of students was the least secure place she could think of to hide something so important. If it wasn't here, she knew she would just have to discover the invention's whereabouts from Heisenberg himself.

"Welcome to Physics 101 students!" said Heisenberg suddenly in a loud, booming voice. "My name is Professor Heisenberg and I'm going to be your teacher for the semester. I'm pleased to see so many of your are interested in the wonderful world of Quantum Mechanics! We're going to go through a lot of material this semester, so I hope you're all ready for the daunting task! Today, we're going to start off with a little introduction to Physics before diving down into the deeper facets of the study later on this week! Now then, if you'll all open your books to page thirty five..."

Before Christine knew it, she was taking notes and listening intently to a lecture she had no interest in. Scar certainly hadn't said anything about her having to study like an actual college student. Did he intend for her to finish this entire course before she would be able to get her hands on Heisenberg's secret invention?

"Tch! My talents are being wasted on note taking and formula memorization," she mumbled, as she twirled the ink pen in her fingertips around in total boredom.

"Um...excuse me? Do you have an extra pen I could borrow?"

Christine turned to the girl sitting next to her, not comprehending the favor being asked of her at first. The girl with the long, red-colored hair smiled at her and without saying a word, Christine handed her an extra pen she had brought along.

"Thanks! Oh, I'm so stupid!" the girl started. "I was so excited to get to class today that I totally forgot to bring something to write with!"

Christine simply nodded at this. Trying to go back to her note taking, the red headed girl pulled her away from it again by showing her a stack of papers she had retrieved from her backpack. The sheer amount made the SOAP spy's eyes enlarge.

"I figured I should study up on Quantum Physics ahead of time, so I took down a whole bunch of notes in preparation for this class! You know, just to get a feel of the course," the girl explained.

"I-I see..."

"Oh! My name is Sam, by the way! Nice to meet you."

Christine stared quietly at Sam's outstretched hand before deciding it was safe to shake it. Introductions weren't her strong suit and she wondered why Sam was being so pushy with her's. The two of them didn't even know one another and the only thing they had in common was a pen, so why was this girl being so friendly?

"I'm..." Christine hesitated to say what she new she was obligated to because of her mission. "My name is...Christine."

Sam, a bit confused at Christine's mannerisms, then said, "I haven't seen you on campus before. Are you...new here?"

"Y-Yes. I transferred from...SOAP University."

The name of the school sounded even more asinine when Christine said it than when Scar explained it to her.

"SOAP University? Can't say I've ever heard of that one..."

"Yeah, it's a rather...exclusive school."

Sam, though skeptical, bought the story. "Well, welcome to Mali-U, Chris!"

The sound of her name being shortened was strange to Christine. Sam immediately noticed this and looked remorseful.

"E-Er...sorry!" she stated. "I-Is it okay if I call you that?"

Chris paused at the question. "I...suppose it's okay."

That couldn't have been farther from the truth, but if saying so would get Sam to leave her alone for a bit, Chris didn't mind. However, her statement had the opposite effect, since Sam seemed more interested in her than ever.

"So, why did you decide to take Physics 101?" she asked.

"...I don't know. I guess the subject was just intriguing to me," Chris replied. Her tone was filled with sarcasm, although she hadn't exactly meant for her response to be so snarky. She just really wanted to get back to her note taking.

_Talking with people really is a pain..._

* * *

Dr. Heisenberg's lecture was over before Chris knew it. She had been so into her note taking and listening to the discussion, she hadn't so much as looked at the nearby clock once. Only the bell ringing and the shuffling of students entering the hallways broke her concentration and told her what was happening. Almost immediately, she grabbed her stuff and prepared to leave. The entire class period had been a complete waste of time in her opinion. She had learned nothing pertaining to her mission and the sparse knowledge of quantum physics she now knew would have been totally worthless to her if it weren't for Heisenberg mentioning something about a pop quiz on Thursday.

"I'll see you later then, Chris! Thanks again for the pen!" said Sam, who ran passed Chris and handed her back the pen in question. "We should totally study together some time!"

Chris nodded at her new acquaintance's words, though she really didn't understand them. Why was she being invited to study with someone when it was more productive to do it alone? As Sam vanished down a hallway, all Chris could really say about the girl was that she was quite peculiar.

Dr. Heisenberg was the last to come out of the classroom and he locked the door behind him. Now alone with him, Chris saw that this was her chance.

"Excuse me, Professor?" she began, getting Heisenberg's attention. "I really didn't understand the part of your lecture where you were talking about how heat affects molecules. Would it be possible for you to explain it to me more clearly?"

Heisenberg smiled at her. "Of course! I have some free time now, so we can head to my office and I can answer any questions you have on the matter!"

The way things were turning out was almost a bit too perfect. Chris, unable to contain a very malevolent grin, wasn't going to complain, however. It would be a simple matter now to interrogate Heisenberg and figure out where he was hiding his research.

"O-Oh no! Look out! Watch it!" said a howling voice that was fast approaching.

Chris turned her head and said, "What in the...?"

Someone suddenly crashed into her with the force of a bowling ball nailing pins, knocking her to the ground. Her vision became blurry and for a moment, she could have sworn she saw birds flying over her head, lamenting her current state. She let out a long groan and saw the silhouette of an individual hovering above her before she passed out.

* * *

The harmonious sounds of birds chirping awoke Chris from a slumber she hadn't planned. She opened her reddened eyes and almost immediately, pain throbbed though her head. Another groan escaped her person, as she gradually sat up from the bed she had no clue how she had gotten into. White sheets surrounded her on both sides and behind her was a window that allowed her to see the outside of the Malibu University campus. She was still at the school at least. A gentle breeze wafted through the crack in the window and somehow it was soothing enough to ease her anguish somewhat.

"W-Where am I? How did I...?"

One of the curtains blocking her bed off from everything else abruptly swung open. A middle aged woman with brown and curly hair then grinned at a confused Chris. Judging from the woman's white coat, Chris figured she must have been a nurse, meaning the place she was in currently must have been the Nurse's Office.

"Yo!" the woman said.

"H-Hello," replied Chris defensively. She then got a peek at the ID attached to the woman's clothing. "You're...Melody Smith?"

"Yup, that's me! I'm the school's nurse! No need to look so serious! You're fine now!"

"W-What happened to me? Why am I here?"

Nurse Melody fixed the pair of thick, rectangular glasses on her face. "You don't remember? Heh, considering what happened, I guess you wouldn't. Anyway, you took a really nasty shot earlier. You had a lump on your head the size of a football, but I managed to get the swelling down."

It was then Chris reached up to her forehead and felt bandages tied around it.

"...Thank you," she said to Melody. It wasn't often she said those words and they felt quite strange coming off her tongue.

"I'm not the one you should thank! Alex here is the one who dragged you all the way here!"

Chris hadn't even noticed the girl timidly standing in the corner of the room. She waved and anxiously smiled in Chris' direction and Chris nodded in response.

"Y-Yeah, my bad!" the girl with the dark skin and black bobcut said. "I-I'm also the one that put you in the nurse's office to begin with! So...um...oopsie?"

Chris didn't respond, but a low grumble could be heard from her.

Alex then went on and stated, "I was late for class this morning and wasn't paying attention where I was going! I'm really sorry!"

Bowing promptly, Alex genuinely looked sincere with her apology. As such, it was hard for even someone like Chris to stay upset at her.

"Thanks for your help, Alex. You better get to class now," said Melody.

Alex's face turned red and horror filled every inch of her features. "Oh my gosh! I-I totally forgot about class! I was running in the first place because I didn't want to be late and now I've almost missed the whole lecture!"

"Don't worry. I've already explained to your professor about your absence. Just hurry!"

Alex didn't need to be told twice. She ran out of the room in the flash, though both Chris and Melody could hear her wailing as she raced to class. If there was one thing Chris could already say about her time at Mali-U, it was that all the girls here were strange.

"Thank you again." Chris stood from her bed, but nearly toppled over from dizziness.

"Hey now! Are you sure you want to be walking around so soon?" asked Melody.

"Y-Yes. I have something important I need to attend to."

With that, Chris exited the nurse's office through the sliding doors.

Sighing, Melody said, "Well, at least she has a lot more energy now."

* * *

"I've wasted enough time. I've never had this much trouble on a mission."

Chris' head was still pounding and a third groan was emitted from her person. She had assumed that while this undercover assignment would be bothersome, it would be an easy one. It was anything but, however, considering half the day had already passed and she was no closer to figuring out where Dr. Heisenberg had stashed his invention. She sighed at this fact, becoming annoyed at the many crickets chirping in the trees around campus. The sun was just beginning to set. It wouldn't be long now until darkness descended upon the city of Malibu.

"I think Scar said something about me staying here on campus in one of the dorms."

That covered her bed for tonight, yet where had Dr. Heisenberg gotten off to? There was always the chance he had gone home for the day, meaning Chris would be forced to endure life as a college student for one more day at the very least. The mere thought was enough to make her gag.

"Wait a minute." Reaching onto her person, Chris pulled out the Faux Silk Invisibility Scarf Scar had given her earlier. "Even if Heisenberg isn't here, I can still check out his office here on campus to see if he left his invention there. And with this scarf, no one will be able to see me. Well, what do you know? That idiot Scar might actually help me out for once..."

"Whoa! Way cute scarf you've got there! Mind if I try it on?"

Chris' entire body tensed up into a fighting stance in response to the unknown person who had spoken to her. It was when she saw it was only a girl around her age, rather than an enemy spy, did she relax.

"Uh..y-you don't have to let me try on the scarf if you don't want to..." said the blonde haired girl, visible frightened by Chris' reaction to her.

"N-No, that's not why I... never mind. My apologies," Chris replied. "Y-You just surprised me is all."

"Seriously though! You just **have** to let me borrow that scarf! I have the perfect outfit to go along with it!"

Chris hastily snatched the scarf away from the girl's prying hands. "I-I can't! I...it's...it's a precious family heirloom! I can't lend it to you..."

Though disappointed, the girl seemed to understand. "No prob! Still, you're outfit is really cute! How come I've never seen someone as fashionable as you around campus before?"

"I just transferred to Malibu University today."

"Welcome Mali-U then! I'm Clover!" said Clover in the sort of Beverly Hills accent Chris was becoming used to at this point. "Since you're new in town, we should totally go shopping together! I could show you around Bev Hill and we could totally get some mani-pedis together!"

"...Mani-pedis?"

The more Clover talked, the more Chris was certain she was speaking a completely different language. The only thing the SOAP agent could discern from the conversation was that Clover wanted to go to the mall, something Chris had no interest in. Wanting to get back to her mission, she struggled to think of something to make Clover go away.

"Er...t-that sounds great, Clover..." she said in the most insincere voice. Clover didn't seem to notice this though. "A-As much as I would love to...go shopping...I have...something I need to do right now."

"No prob! We can totally go another time...uh...er..."

"...My name is Chris."

"I'll see you around campus then, Chris?"

Chris nodded. "Er...sure. See you around."

Clover waved and soon disappeared, while Chris put her hands on her hips and sighed. She then went somewhere she was certain no one would see her ahead of pulling out her Z-Powder and pressing a button. Her black catsuit then formed around her body.

"Time to do something I'm actually good at," she stated, slipping on her trademark ski mask across her face. "Now then, where did I put it...?"

She pulled out a map of the Malibu University campus she had managed to snag before going to class that morning. Looking it over, she saw that Dr. Heisenberg's office wasn't that far from her current position. In fact, it was right above her. She chuckled at the reality something was finally going her way for once and then aimed her bungee cable at a nearby window. The metal ending of the cord clanked against the glass and pulling herself toward it, she quickly scaled the wall, reaching the window. A name plate on a desk inside told Chris that the space was indeed the office of Dr. Heisenberg. With that confirmed, she pulled out the All Purpose Fountain Pen Laser, cutting a circle large enough for her to fit through. She then kicked the now loose glass off and leaped through the hole.

"Hmph. Good at note taking and infiltration. Handy little gadget," Chris said with a smile, putting the pen back in her pocket. "Now then, where to start?"

Dr. Heisenberg's office was rather small, solely containing his desk, two file cabinets in one corner, and a trophy case on the opposite side. Curiosity got the better of her and Chris walked over to the trophy case first. Heisenberg was certainly no slouch when it came to Quantum Physics, considering he had decades worth of awards in his name for his achievements in the field.

"Good. That means this invention of his is the real deal."

Chris next turned her attention to Heisenberg's desk. A number of the drawers were locked, albeit they were no match for Chris' trusty All Purpose Fountain Pen Laser. She spent a number of minutes combing though every inch of the desk, but was unable to find the thing she sought after amongst the clutter.

"Old gum wrappers, receipts, and random notes. Heisenberg sure is a messy guy."

She moved on to the file cabinets, using her gadget to slice through the locks keeping them tightly locked. To her dismay, hundreds upon hundreds of folders and papers were contained within each cabinet. One by one, she combed through them all.

"Jeez. This guy is a hoarder too. Half the stuff he has in here isn't even relevant anymore."

Finally, Chris found something of interest: a red, unmarked folder. Unlike the other files, it was sealed tight with thick tape. Chris burned off the seal and the smell of musty papers hit her nose after opening the covering. She paid the scent no mind, more intrigued by the first file that read 'Light Speed Power Suit.' She shifted through the pages of the folder and her eyes lit up more and more as she did.

"This is it! This is the invention Heisenberg is working on!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Let's see here...it says the Light Speed Power Suit allows the wearer to move at the speed of light. Makes sense. Hmm, it also says that it's still undergoing testing right now. This is definitely Heisenberg's handwriting on these papers, so this has gotta be legit. Still, where are they keeping the suit?"

She scanned the files a bit longer and found the mention of a secret laboratory. Though she was annoyed by this, she now felt Heisenberg was a rather paranoid individual and that he would never keep something so important as the Light Speed Power Suit on campus.

_Where is his lab? It doesn't say anything about the location of __it__ in these files..._

Chris took some pictures of the papers with her Z-Powder for future reference. It was then she heard voices outside that were steadily growing louder with each passing second. The door to the office opened and Heisenberg, along with a student, walked inside. The room was totally empty and judging from Dr. Heisenberg's expression, that hadn't been what he was expecting.

"I-Is something wrong, professor?" the student inquired.

Heisenberg shook his head. "N-No. I just thought I heard a voice coming from inside here. I must be imagining things."

Unbeknown to both Heisenberg and his student, Chris had slipped right past them and into the hallway. Of course, there was no way they could have caught wind of her presence when she was wearing the Faux Silk Invisibility Scarf. She dashed around a corner, ripped off the scarf, and grabbed hold of her Z-Powder again.

"Scar! Hey, Scar, answer me! Tch! Where is he when I need to talk to him?!"

Scar, sipping a piping hot cut of tea, appeared on screen just then. "Ah, Christine. I didn't think we would talk again so soon. You certainly look well."

"I told you to stop calling me that! Bah! That's not important right now! Listen, I've figured out what Dr. Heisenberg is working on!"

Chris explained everything she had found out about the Light Speed Power Suit to Scar, who was more than a little intrigued by what he was hearing.

"Fascinating," he replied. "And the suit? Where is it now?"

"Heisenberg's keeping it in some secret facility. I don't know where it is..."

"Well then, agent, I believe you still have a job to do. Tata for now."

"W-Wait! Don't..." The screen on Chris' Z-Powder went dead again. "...hang up."

She sighed. Like always it seemed, she was just going to have to handle this herself.

_Dammit! That lab could be anywhere in the world! If only I had some clue to go on. _

There was no time for her to lament over her sorrows. Footsteps were heading toward her and she figured it must have been Heisenberg coming back. Pushing a button on her Z-Powder, she changed into some more casual apparel. However, instead of Heisenberg, three familiar faces all laughing turned around the corner.

_Sam?! Alex?! Clover?! _

It was indeed the three girls she had run into during the course of the day, or at least in Alex's case, the one who had run into her. The trio spotted Chris and stopped their ongoing conversation, seeming just as surprise to see her as she was to see them.

"Oh, hey! It's you!" said Sam.

"H-Huh? You know this girl too?" asked Alex.

"No way! I ran into her today too!" added Clover.

"Well, we share a Physics 101 class together," explained Sam.

"Er...I-I almost killed her today," said an embarrassed Alex.

Clover then said, "Well, I stopped to talk to her because she had a way cute scarf on."

"H-Hello," said Chris, clearly uncomfortable with this chance encounter. "S-So you all are friends then?"

The three nodded enthusiastically.

"Isn't it rather weird though that we all bumped into Chris here today?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, it is! Maybe it's like...fate or something!" exclaimed Alex.

"Puh-lease! Like I'm seriously going to believe in that horoscope stuff!" said Clover.

Being talked about like this was making Chris even more uneasy for some odd reason. Her face was hot and butterflies were floating around in her stomach.

_I-I should have __just used the Invisibility Scarf to run away when I had the chance.__.._

"Hey! Since we're going to the mall anyway, we should totally bring Chris along!" said Alex.

"That's a great idea!" Sam replied. "I'm sure Chris would love The Groove!"

"Totes!" added Clover. "I said I would show her around anyway!"

"W-What's 'The Groove?'" asked Chris, who wasn't sure she even wanted to know.

Clover, so shocked and surprised by the question, found herself unable to speak for a moment. "Y-You don't know what The Groove is?!"

Chris shook her head.

"It's only the greatest place on Earth! Not only does it have the best shops, but also the cutest guys! Seriously, how could you not know?!"

"I...just didn't."

"Well, good thing you ran into us then! Anyway, they're having a sale on cashmere right now, so we better move if we don't want everyone to take all the good stuff!"

"And I still have to make it up to you for knocking you over today!" Alex told Chris. "I know! I can buy you a drink at Señor Smoothie!"

"There's also a great bookstore at The Groove where we could probably find something to help us for Physics class tomorrow!"

Chris wasn't sure what was going on anymore. Why were Sam, Alex, and Clover so intent in bringing her to the mall with them? She had no interest in shopping and even less interest in drinking a smoothie. It made no sense to Chris why anyone would waste their time on such fruitless endeavors.

"T-Thank you for the offers, girls, but I..."

Her new acquaintances weren't taking no for an answer, it seemed. They basically shoved Chris out of the door and in the direction of the mall, much to their helpless victim's chagrin.

_D-Damn it, Scar! I'll never forgive you for making me go on this stupid mission in the first place!_

END


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Cleaning with SOAP Part 2

It turned out 'The Groove' wasn't just a cute nickname Sam, Alex, and Clover had come up with to describe the outdoor shopping complex, but it's actual name according to the sign that stood over the entrance. Chris stared at the letters in total silence for a few moments, while her new 'friends' rushed into the mall without a moment's hesitation. She followed soon afterward and honestly found herself in awe at the many stores that filled The Groove. There were a variety of shoe outlets, clothing stores, and even a hair gel kiosk for whatever reason. Indeed, she understood now why the place could occupy the minds and attention of hundreds of people blissfully shopping here today. Still, there was nothing remotely appealing to her amongst the fashion designer clothing and overpriced jewelry.

"Aren't there better things these people could be spending their time doing?" she asked herself while staring at a mob of teenage girls fighting over the last pair of some fancy shoes.

"A-Are those the latest designer pair of Yves Mont Blanc's?!" Clover yelled in shock.

She quickly rammed her way through the unruly crowd and into the center, where she began wrestling for control of the boots from an older woman.

"A-Are those shoes that important?" said Chris, cringing when Clover dug her nails into the old woman's eyes.

"For Clover, yeah," replied Alex. "If she's willing to ruin her manicure over them, you **know** she's serious about those shoes!"

"Things are going to get a lot uglier before they get better," said Sam.

Clover, successfully obtaining the Yves Mont Blanc shoes, leaped from the crowd and hissed at those foolish enough to try and approach her for them. Grudgingly, everyone backed off for the time being. Wiping herself off and fixing her hair, Clover walked back over to her friends, holding the shoes up high for everyone to see.

"Got 'em!" she said in between gasps of air.

"Yes, and they only cost you a couple of teeth and your self respect," said Chris.

"A minor price to pay!" Clover responded as she eagerly slipped on the shoes. "These totally work perfectly with my outfit!"

A bead of sweat rolled down Sam's head. "If you're done playing Mall Gladiator, there's still that book store I want to check out."

And so the trio, along with an even less eager Chris, continued their mall excursion, stopping and shopping at place to place, buying anything and everything that appealed to them. Chris was amazed to find that no matter how much Sam, Clover, and Alex swiped their credit cards, they never seemed to max them out.

_Are they...rich or something?_

Before long, the trio had over a dozen or so bags in each hand, yet their thirst for shopping wasn't sated. Chris, despite having bought nothing, was carrying even more than them. With a vein on her forehead, she was seriously debating whether or not to simply dump her acquaintance's purchases and storm off.

"Where should we head next?" asked a beaming Alex.

"I heard there's a sale on hats at Hats 'R Us!" said an equally elated Clover.

"Well, I **do** need a new hat for my Advanced Hat Study class!" said Sam.

"...Is this seriously all you guys do?"

Sam, Alex, and Clover stopped in their tracks and turned their heads back to Chris, who had blurted her last statement out loud without really thinking. Blushing, she cleared her throat.

"W-What I mean to say is, I don't get why you three like shopping so much. What's so fun about going to a place crowded with people to buy clothing and jewelry that you'll eventually forget about in the long run? It just seems like a waste of time in my opinion."

The questions, mind boggling to the three girls standing in front of Chris, were apparently harder to answer than she would have thought.

"Well, I guess if I really had to think about it, it's not so much the shopping in general we enjoy..." Sam began. "... so much as as it's spending time with each other!"

"I mean, hello! What's the point of buying clothes and looking fab if you have to do it alone?" added Clover.

"Are you saying...it's fun because you do it...together?" asked Chris slowly.

"Yeah!" yelled Alex. "What's better than spending time with your girlfriends?"

The three proceeded to hug before grinning at Chris, the latter more puzzled now than when she had first asked her question.

_They just...want to be together then?_

Such a concept was completely foreign to Chris. She had no friends at SOAP and the only person she could even remotely think of to refer to as an acquaintance was Scar. For all her life, she had worked, slept, eaten, and done most everything else alone. As a spy, she simply assumed that was just the way things had to be.

_...__I don't get it. Isn't it more efficient to do things alone? Don't other people just get in your way?_

"What do you say we take a break, girls?" asked Sam. "We can go grab a drink at Señor Smoothie!"

"I second that notion!" Clover put her bags down and wiped her forehead clean. "As much as I love catching all these sales, my pedi is totally being ruined by all this walking around!"

With her feet hurting as well, Chris had no objections with the plan.

* * *

Alex bought Chris the drink she had promised her from Señor Smoothie, a strawberry and banana concoction that was actually quite delicious. Nevertheless, as she sipped on the smoothie through a straw, she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. It could have had to do with her guilty conscious at the moment, upset she was wasting her time goofing off at the mall when she had an all important mission for SOAP that needed her full and undivided attention.

_I shouldn't be here._

"Hey, is something wrong?"

Chris averted her gaze from the floor to Sam. "...Yes, I'm fine."

"Then how come you look like you missed out on a sale at YMB?" said Clover.

"I-Is it the smoothie? Do you not like strawberry banana?!" asked Alex, who looked like she was ready to burst into tears. "I-I can get you chocolate if you want!"

"It's not the smoothie. It's nothing, I assure you all."

With that, Chris went back to quietly slurping her drink. Despite her words, Sam, Clover, and Alex were certain her current behavior was a bit more than 'nothing.'

In an attempt to break the awkwardness of the situation, Sam said, "So...Chris, why don't you tell us a bit more about yourself?"

"There's really nothing to tell," said Chris in response.

A drop of sweat fell down the back of Sam, Alex, and Clover's heads at this answer.

"Um...how about your favorite sports team?" said Alex reluctantly.

"Sports team? I'm not really into sports, honestly."

Strike two, the others thought.

Clover then jumped in, saying, "Y-You have to have a favorite boy band at least? Teensicle? Boy Candy? Frontstreet Guys?"

"What's a...boy band?"

Strike three. The girl's attempts at getting to know Chris were making them want to learn less about her. Moving out of earshot, they quickly huddled up.

"Okay, is it just me or is this girl really...weird?" Sam asked. "It's like she lives in a totally different universe or something!"

"Tell me about it! She didn't even bat an eyelash when I mentioned the halter tops in the mall were half off today!" replied Clover.

"Well, what are we going to do? We're the ones who invited her here."

"I know, Alex, but..." Sam looked over the huddle at Chris, who was paying them no mind, and continued with, "We can't just bail on her..."

"I-I guess not," said Clover, though she was really hoping they could.

"We should just try to make her feel more comfortable! Maybe she's just acting so weird because she doesn't have any friends yet here in Malibu!"

Clover and Alex, frowning, nodded their head's at Sam's plan. They weren't exactly jumping at the chance, however, to interact with Chris again.

"...Okay, what are you three talking about over there?"

A chill shot down everyone's back when Chris suddenly stood above them and leered down in their tight huddle. As such, they fell to the ground laughing nervously in an attempt to hide their guilt.

"U-Uh...w-we were just trying to figure out what store we should hit next!" Clover lied.

"Y-Yeah! We...always have to decide...like this..." said Alex in an even less convincing voice.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "...As much as I've enjoyed this little excursion, there's something I..."

Interrupting Chris just then was the loud, booming sound of what was unmistakably an explosion of some kind. It was powerful, so powerful in fact, it violently shook the ground and knocked everyone off their feet. Nearby denizens off the mall started to run and scream for their lives from an unseen entity soon afterward and Chris, scanning the area, couldn't find the source of the disturbance.

_What the...? That wasn't a normal explosion. It sounded like..._

"Uh...what's going on?" Alex wanted to know.

"Either there's a killer shoe sale going on somewhere or something's attacking the mall!" said Clover.

"Er...I think we've found what our 'something' is! Look!"

Sam pointed to a far off corner, where a giant, metallic robot was currently destroying everything in sight with red laser beams fired from its eyes. The sight of it made one of Chris' eyelids twitch.

"D-Does this sort of thing happen often here at The Groove?" she inquired.

"Totes! There always seems to be a baddie trying to trash our favorite hangout!" Clover explained. "Agh! D-Did it just blow up our favorite shoe store?!"

"T-That's so totally evil!" Alex chimed with her hands on her head in shock. "A-Ah! H-He just got the pet shop I always go to to get Oinky's favorite brand of mud!"

"What do you say we stop that oversized can opener and send it back to the scrap heap where it belongs?!" said Sam.

It was then the overzealous trio recalled Chris was standing right behind them.

"...What are you three talking about? You don't actually think you can stop that thing, do you?" said a confused Chris.

"Uh...n-no! O-Of course not! We were just..." Sam, her eyes shifting in panic, struggled to come with an excuse. "Y-You just wait here, Chris, where it's safe! We're just going to go...check on something real quick!"

Sam, Alex, and Clover all nodded at this, waved, and hastily dashed off into the distance. As Chris watched them go, her intuition told her something was amiss and disregarding Sam's warning, she followed after the girls. They hadn't got far, the three hiding out of sight behind a plant. Chris adjusted her position and watched them pull out a pink compact before their clothing suddenly transformed. Now wearing green, yellow, and red catsuits respectively, Sam, Alex, and Clover jumped out from their hiding place, attracting the attention of the nearby, rampaging robot.

"Alright, girls, it's spy time!" Sam bellowed.

The trio then jumped into action. Chris, her eyes greatly enlarged, watch them battle the robot while her brain struggled to comprehend what it was seeing.

"...Impossible," she mumbled. "...You're meaning to tell me those bumbling girls are actually **spies**?!"

Everything was suddenly beginning to make sense to her. There was no doubt in Chris' mind now that Sam, Alex, and Clover were the WOOHP spies Scar had told her were at Malibu University. They had been under her nose all this time and Chris hadn't even noticed. Smirking, she couldn't help but find it humorous how easily she had been fooled.

"Still, how could girls like that be working for WOOHP?"

She supposed it didn't matter how. She reached for her Z-Powder, pressed a button, and before long, Scar's face popped up on the top screen.

"Agent C? What's the matter? Has something gone wrong with your mission?"

Chris shook her head. "It's not that. Remember those WOOHP agents you were telling me about? Well, I'm pretty sure I've found them."

"...And you're sure about that?" Scar asked, rubbing his chin.

Chris moved her head back to the fight unfolding below her and witnessed Sam using some sort of gadget that froze the robot's legs solid. Alex then aimed a ring on her index finger at it, causing a laser beam to shoot out and slice the machine right down the middle. The two halves fell in opposite directions and clanked against the ground, violently sparking as they did so.

"Yes, I'm sure," Chris answered, turning back to her Z-Powder. "Those girls are using gadgets like the ones we have at SOAP, unless you want me to believe they bought them here at the mall."

"Wait, you're at the mall?" Scar's interest, and his eyebrow, was heightened.

Chris blushed. "I-It's not what you think! I-I was just...!"

"It doesn't matter. Actually, the WOOHP spies revealing themselves to you like this is a blessing in disguise. Agent C, I want you to eliminate them. Their presence during your mission will simply overcomplicate things."

A throb of pain suddenly echoed in Chris' chest when she heard the word 'eliminate.' Though she hadn't the foggiest idea why, a small part of her had actually flinched at the idea of killing Sam, Alex, and Clover.

_...What was that? _

"Agent C, is something the matter?"

"N-No, Scar. Right, I'll eliminate the WOOHP agents right now, then get back to my mission of finding Dr. Heisenberg's invention!"

She ended her transmission with Scar before taking a long, deep breath. There was something wrong with her at the moment. She could feel it. Whatever the case, she would have to get over whatever was plaguing her because right now, she had something important to take care of. She activated the clothes changing features on her Z-Powder and slipped into her black catsuit, shrouding her face with a black ski mask.

"Time to go to work..."

* * *

"So, where do you think this thing came from?"

Alex, crouching down on her knees, poked at the remains of the metallic monstrosity that moments ago had been having its way with The Groove. A piece of it shifted some, scaring her and making her shriek in terror. Her face then turned red when Sam and Alex glanced at her like she were crazy.

"I don't know where it came from either, Alex, but we better send some evidence to Jer using my X-Powder so he can hopefully find out the answer," said Sam.

"He better find out fast because I'm going to make whoever sent this thing **pay** for ruining the pair of red pumps I was going to buy from that store it stepped on!" Clover proclaimed, clenching her fist tightly.

Alex sighed. "So much for our peaceful shopping trip."

"I know, but don't you think it's strange?" asked Sam. "Why would someone send a robot to attack The Groove in the first place?"

"Maybe someone's mad because they missed out on Hats Off to the Mall Day?" said Clover.

"Hey girls, don't you think whoever made this is a total cheapo?" Alex picked up another fragment of the robot, easily crushing it within her grasp. "I mean, what is this thing made of, paper mache?"

Sam and Clover grabbed pieces off the ground as well and the various wires and the parts seemed to be as fragile as glass.

"Hey, you're right!" Sam exclaimed. "The wiring and circuitry are way out of whack too! I'm surprised this thing was even up and moving around."

"So, either our bad guy is really strapped for cash or they totally aren't very good at building robots," said Clover.

"Seems like it. We won't know for sure though until Jerry sends the results of that analysis back."

"Oh, I just still can't believe the mall is totally trashed!" Clover whined.

* * *

"Hmph. You're about to have something other than your precious mall to fret over."

The WOOHP agents shifted their focus to the person who had just said that, the individual in question landing a few feet away suddenly. Smiling from under her mask, Chris put her hands on her hips and stared down Sam, Alex, and Clover in silence. Even now, she was having a hard time accepting the fact the three were actually secret agent, especially when they persisted on parading around in such inconspicuous outfits.

"Whoa! Who are you?!" Sam demanded to know.

"For all intents and purposes, your destroyer," answered Chris. "

"So, I...um...take it she isn't on our side," chimed Alex.

"Duh! Someone on our side would totally know that that ski mask clashes with that kind of outfit!" added Clover.

Chris chose not to respond to the remark.

"Wait! Were you the one that sent that robot to trash our mall?!" said Alex.

Chris shook her head. "My group, Spies Organized Against Peace, wouldn't bother sending a mediocre thing like that if we really wanted to 'trash' this place."

The WOOHP agents paused at the comment before breaking out into spontaneous laughter.

"...What's so funny?" asked Chris, who had missed the joke.

"Y-Your organization's name is SOAP?" giggled a struggling to breathe at the moment Sam.

Clover was having just as much trouble holding back a few more chuckles. "T-That's the silliest name for a group I've ever heard!"

"Yeah! What are you gonna do, clean us to death?!" said a snorting Alex.

The three kept on laughing it up, so hard that their chest began to hurt and they weren't even able to stand under their own power anymore.

"T-That's enough!" Chris barked. "Would you idiots stop screwing around?! I'm only about to kill you here!"

Chris was going to make sure her enemies had nothing more to giggle about. She charged at the unsuspecting WOOHP agents with a full head of steam, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks. Sam, Alex, and Clover all let out screams of terror ahead of dodging and parrying the various blows aimed at them.

"H-Hey! Take it easy!" Sam cried, dodging a roundhouse kick aimed for her head.

"W-Wow! She's good!" added Alex, who narrowly avoided a left hook.

"Tch! You all are better than you look!" said Chris.

Without warning, the offensive tide began to turn, with Chris now being pushed back by the WOOHP spies. Their strikes were faster than Chris had expected, with numerous blows nearly ending her right then and there. Three on one was something she wasn't going to win no matter how stubborn she was, so she hastily flipped backward to catch her breath and think up a new strategy.

"What's wrong? Is that all you've got?!" said Clover.

"Yeah! I thought you were gonna destroy us!" said Alex sarcastically.

Chris held her tongue at the comments, more concerned with how she could gain the upper hand in this fight. It was then she remembered the Faux Silk Invisibility Scarf in her possession. If used, it would easily allow her to attack without being seen.

_W-Wait a minute...!_

Or so she thought. The memory of Clover seeing her wearing the scarf earlier in the day was still fresh on her mind. Putting the scarf on now as such would be the equivalent of her just telling Sam, Alex, and Clover she was Chris in disguise.

_Plan B it is then..._

Fortunately for her, there was another gadget in her disposal she could use. Chris tossed the Knockout Gas Apple Earrings at the ground in front of Sam, Alex, and Clover. A thick, red gas burst forth from them, shrouding everything in sight. The WOOHP spies could be heard screaming in panic as a result of what was happening. Chris, on the other hand, kept a level head, quickly scaling up to a higher level of the mall using the bungee cable attached to her utility belt.

"What do you know? That gadget worked better than I thought it would," she said.

Three more cables attached themselves to a nearby railing and much to Chris' chagrin, Sam, Alex, and Clover soon followed behind them. A pink, spherical barrier was surrounding them for some reason.

"H-Huh? Why didn't the gas knock you three out?!" she asked.

"Don't think you're the only one with gadgets, missy!" said Clover, who was holding a pink rod in her fingertips. She pressed a button on it and the barrier slowly faded away.

"You've gotta love the All Purpose Weather Umbrella!" said a winking Sam.

"But...isn't it bad luck to open umbrellas indoors?" said Alex. Upon receiving a pair of blank stares from her friends, she held her arms up and cried, "W-What?!"

Chris grit her teeth and mumbled, "How can such blithering idiots work so well together?"

She realized how upset she was getting and calmed herself down. She would accomplish nothing without a clear head. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that destroying these girls was her highest priority if SOAP's goals were going to be achieved.

"Just give it up already!" Sam declared.

"Your evil spy days are over!" said Clover.

Alex added, "I think there's a cell in the WOOHP containment facility with you name on it!"

The mere idea of being captured by WOOHP was utterly repugnant to Chris. Unwilling to let that happen, she needed a plan of action and she needed it fast. Sam, Alex, and Clover were charging straight toward her and taking them all on at the same time was tantamount to just giving up right there. Her eyes moved to and from, searching for some means of attack. Soon enough, she found just the thing she was looking for. She fired her bungee cable again, this time toward the Spies themselves. The three of them managed to duck it in time, although they were never Chris' target to begin with. Her cable instead latched itself onto the arm of a giant teddy bear in front of the toy shop behind them. With one strong pull, the stuffed animal came tumbling downward.

"Hey, is it getting darker?" Alex asked, as the bear's shadow grew larger and larger.

The girls, not wanting to, gradually turned themselves around. Their faces changed to ones of shock, as the giant teddy bear crashed down on top of them, squeaking loudly as it did. Chris braced herself from the impact and afterward, a smile etched its way onto her face. Walking over to the bear, she kicked it in the head quite stiffly, making it squeak again.

"Good riddance," she said.

With WOOHP out of the way, her primary mission became a whole lot easier. She began to walk away from the area, intending on finding Dr. Heisenberg as soon as possible to pry the location of his secret laboratory out of him.

Suddenly, the center of the teddy bear was frozen solid. Then, Alex and Clover burst from within the frigid stuffing and nailed a pair of kicks to the back of an unsuspecting Chris' head. She went rolling across the ground, but found her way back to her feet with an acrobatic flip. However, at that moment, Sam rushed in an nearly took her block off with a straight punch. Floored again, Chris was helpless to stop Sam from pulling out a blue, star star-shaped bottle and spraying at her legs.

"W-What in the...?!" said Chris, as her legs became frozen solid by the sweet smelling mist. Struggle as she might, she couldn't break free. "D-Damn! W-What did you do to me?!"

"Ice Queen Perfume. Just another one of WOOHP's handy gadgets," said Sam, tossing the bottle in her grasp up and down. "You're on thin ice now!"

As much as Chris hated to admit it, she had been defeated. Clover and Alex walked over to Sam and the three exchanged high fives with each other for a job well done.

"Now then, how come you're trying to off us?!" said Clover to Chris.

"Yeah, who sent you?!" asked Alex. "D-Did our moms send you here because they know we're not doing so great in school right now?!"

There was no way Chris was going to open her mouth and say anything.

"Not much of a talker, eh? You sure were earlier," said Sam. "That's fine! As soon as the boys from WOOHP come and pick you up, they can get all the answers we need out of you!"

Chris began to struggle more against the ice binding her at the thought of being captured. She would much rather die than have that happen.

Opening her X-Powder, Sam began to speak into it. "Hey, Jerry? We've got someone here we need you to get. Apparently, she's an enemy spy from some group by the name of SOAP."

"...Jerry?" The name made something snap inside of Chris. Her eyes narrowed and reddened and she began biting her bottom lip, forcing blood to draw from it. "JERRY LEWIS?!"

"H-Huh? Psycho much?!" said Clover in response to this.

"H-How does she know Jerry's name?" inquired Alex.

"There's no way I wouldn't know the name of a man as despicable as Jerry Lewis!" Chris' skin was flushing a deep shade of crimson and the rage she had tried so hard to contain was now bubbling to the surface like an erupting volcano. "That man took **everything **from me! Like hell I'd let someone like that capture me!"

Chris brandished the All Purpose Fountain Pen Laser from her person, cutting the ice trapping her limbs off in a flash. Sam, Alex, and Clover gasped in unison at this.

"O-Oopsie! We forgot to take her gadgets!" said Alex.

"What a totally boneheaded move!" added Clover. "That's usually what the villains forget to do when they capture **us**!"

"Ngh! It's still three on one! You're not going anywhere!" Sam proclaimed.

"Tch! I wasn't planning on running anyway!" answered Chris. "I'll destroy you three here and now!"

She aimed her gadgets straight at them, prepared to burn the trio off the face of the Earth if she had to. The sole thing that prevented her from doing so was the sudden beeping of her Z-Powder in her pocket. Grabbing it, she opened it to see a very serious looking Scar staring back at her.

"Time to retreat, Agent C," he said briskly.

"R-Retreat?!" Hearing this made the already unstable Christine even more volatile. "W-Why do you want me to fall back?! I can do it! I can take out these WOOHP agents right here and now!"

"No, you're blinded by anger right now. I'm not allowing my best agent to die or be captured just to settle some personal vendetta. You won't be able to do anything if that happens, right? Fall back for now. You'll have another opportunity in the near feature to settle things, I promise."

Her hand that was tightly clutching the her gadget didn't want to back down, yet Chris forced it to after taking some time to reflect on Scar's words.

"Hey, isn't that thing she's talking to right now look sorta like our X-Powders?" asked Sam.

"Do you just have copies of **all** of our gadgets?" Clover inquired. "Talk about unoriginal!"

Slamming her Z-Powder shut, Chris pointed to the WOOHP spies and declared, "Tch! I don't know how, but it looks like you three are going to leave this mall tonight with your lives intact! Don't worry though, we'll settle this some other time!"

"Oh no you don't! You're not going anywhere!" Sam stated.

Sam and her comrade's pursuit of Chris was halted prematurely when Chris tossed a couple of smoke bombs their way. The resulting smokescreen allowed her to make her escape, as she leaped down to ground level and right through The Groove's entrance. Looking backward, she shook her head at everything that had happened tonight.

_Tch! I can't believe I was almost defeated by a bunch of idiotic WOOHP agents! How though?! I don't get it! I should have won easily!_

* * *

Christine's trek back to Malibu University had been a successful one. No one had trailed her return trip to her dorm room and it seemed that she had successfully gotten away without anyone discovering her identity. All this should have been cause for celebration, yet as she sat quietly on her bed inside her pitch black dorm room, all she felt was disappointment. She scowled at the blank wall in front of her, noting she hadn't been this upset in a very long time. In anger, her fist collied with her pillow, sending white features everywhere.

"What did I do wrong?! Where did I mess up?!" She laid back in her bed and fixed her gaze to the ceiling this time around. "There must be some miscalculation I made that I simply can't remember..."

She tossed and turned in her bed for the answers, though was unable to come up with a single one. The whole thing just didn't make sense to her. Was it Sam, Alex, and Clover's superior numbers that gave them the edge? Their gadgets? Or was it something else, something Chris was unable to fathom because she didn't think like them?

_I wonder. Could it have been...?_

Her Z-Powder started to beep again, breaking her from her heavy thinking.

"Yeah, what is it, Scar?" she said with an air of annoyance at her boss.

Scar frowned at this. "Is that how you talk to me now, Christine? That school must be corrupting you faster than I estimated."

"I told you not to call me that." Chris sighed. "Just get on with whatever it is you want to say."

"...Fine. I've analyzed the data from that nasty robot that attacked you at the mall earlier this evening and I have the results right now."

"You did? When? I didn't even send you any evidence."

"Oh, I assure you, SOAP has its ways."

Chris' eyebrow rose. "O-ooo-okay. Why is it even any of our business that some second hand robot attacked a silly mall?"

"I'm glad you asked that. You're right. If it were just some machine going crazy in a mall, it really wouldn't be any of our business, but what if I told you that that robot wasn't just destroying things for the sake of destroying them, but actually looking to destroy **someone**?"

"...What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that that robot was trying to destroy **you**, Agent C."

Chris, for a moment, wasn't sure if she was hearing Scar correctly. "...Why would it be going after me?"

Scar, stroking his chin, stated, "That's a very good question, agent. I must admit, the whole 'evil robot going after you thing' is merely a theory of mine, but don't you think it's rather suspicious that the one time in your entire life that you take an interest in something 'normal' girls your age do all the time in going to the mall, it is attacked?"

"...I-I see your point, but the robot went after those WOOHP agents, not me."

"Another good point. However, I believe the robot simply mistook them for you. I'm sure you noticed it yourself, but that machine was...how should I say...shoddily constructed. It looked like something an elementary schooler would bring for a science fair. Therefore, I think it's safe to say it's programming couldn't have been all that much better."

"These are a lot of assumptions to go on, Scar. If everything you're saying is true, that means someone here at Malibu University knows I'm actually an undercover agent and has it in for me. There's no way it could be those WOOHP agents because my face was covered the entire time."

"I believe you're correct. It also couldn't have been WOOHP who sent that robot if your recollection of tonights events are correct. Besides, their technology, as much as I hate to admit it, is far too advanced. Can you think of anyone else that might know your secret?"

Chris shook her head. "No. I'm telling you, there's no one out there that could possibly know. I've been very careful. Was there a leak at SOAP or something?"

"H-How dare you suggest this organization could possibly have any leaks!" Scar shouted indignantly. "Anyway, it seems you're not only going to have to find out who wants you dead, but also discover the location of Heisenberg's secret laboratory. Tata for now."

Scar dropped the call and like always, Chris felt that he was of no help to her when it really mattered.

_How could my cover have been blown? I'm positive I didn't make any errors or allow anyone to see me while I was in Heisenberg's office earlier today. Even if they did spot me, how would they know it was me when I was in disguise? Something about this just isn't right._

A knock at the door of her dorm room gave Chris a slight fright, as she half near fell out of her bed. She certainly hadn't been expecting any visitors, especially at this time of night, so she grabbed the All Purpose Fountain Pen Laser that was resting on her desk and slowly approached the door. If there was one thing she had to give her would be assassin credit for, it was that they were persistent. It was just unfortunate that they weren't dealing with an amateur. Chris unlocked the door, pulled it open, and aimed the pen straight at the heart of the person waiting on the other side.

"Not this time!" she screamed.

"Uh...i-is this a bad time? B-Because I can always come back..."

The person now sweating profusely in her doorway was no assassin, but Samantha, one of the WOOHP agents Chris despised. Why she was here of all places, Chris didn't know, but perhaps this moment would be a good time to take her out. She was alone and vulnerable; it would be easy. Nevertheless, Chris' arm lowered, her weapon along with it. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do the deed, telling herself that it would blow her cover if someone were to pass by and see the act. However, there was definitely something else staying her hand, even if she didn't want to admit it.

"H-Hello, Sam," Chris said, trying to sound as natural as possible.

"Uh...hi! Hmm, that's the second time tonight someone's tried to kill me with a pen. Er...anyway...I didn't mean to drop by so late, but when I heard your dorm room was around here, I just had to come check up on you! Are you alright? Clover, Alex, and I couldn't find you after that little 'incident' back at The Groove. You don't know how relieved I am to see you here safe and sound!"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Chris wanted to add, "No thanks to you!", but held herself back.

"Er...there's one other thing. I-I just want to apologize for the way we acted back at the mall," Sam continued, rubbing the back of her head. "We're not usually like that, I swear!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well...it's just that...Clover, Alex, and I were sort of...talking behind your back for a little while there. We were saying all sorts of mean stuff like that you were strange and that it was weird you don't like Teensicle and all that."

"I don't **not** like Teensicle. I just don't have any idea what that is," Chris said honestly.

Sam laughed, though it was obvious she had tried to hold back. "S-Sorry! I'm not laughing at you! It's just..."

"I think I...understand what it is you're trying to say...and it's fine. You guys can talk about me all you want. I don't mind, really. Stuff like that tends not to bother me."

A bead of sweat rolled down Sam's head. "T-That wasn't the point I was trying to get across. Anyway, I got you something from the mall. Remember that really cool bookstore we stopped at before that robot got through blowing it to bits?"

Sam reached into her bag and pulled out a very, **very** thick book. Taking it, Chris nearly fell over from its sheer weight.

"W-What is it?" she strained to ask.

"It's 'Everything You Need To Know About Physics!' It was on sale and I remembered we had Physics 101 together, so I went ahead and bought it! I meant to give it to you back at the ball, but..."

"...You got this for me? I don't understand. Why did you go to the trouble?"

"Huh? Because we're friends, duh!"

Friends? For the second time today, that word had been brought up in conversation and for a second time, Chris had no idea how to react to it. She gazed at the text in her hand without saying a word before glancing back up at Sam. Though she didn't know it, a single tear had formed in one of her eyelids.

"Thank you," she then said.

"H-Huh? Are you...crying?!" asked Sam in confusion.

Chris gasped in surprise at the tear running down her face. Quickly wiping it away, she stated, "O-Of course not. T-There must be something in my eyes. T-This dorm room is rather dusty."

"Ah, I see. Um...well, you can look over the book if you want! It should help you get ready for that big test we have on Thursday! Don't worry about me! I've already read it over!" Sam explained. "Alright, I gotta go! Clover and Alex are waiting for me, but I'll see you in class tomorrow, right?"

Chris nodded and watched as Sam waved and disappeared down another corridor. Stepping back into her dorm and closing the door behind her, Chris took a seat on her bed. She wasn't sure what had just transpired, only really getting that she was left with a really heavy book in her lap. There was nothing other for her to do than open it and begin skimming through its pages. Like Sam had stated, the information inside was quite extensive, enough so that she wondered if she would even have to bother attending Dr. Heisenberg's lecture at all tomorrow morning.

"Hmph. I don't know why she let me have this. It would have been more beneficial to her to keep it, and the knowledge, to herself," she muttered. "So we're friends then, huh? Tch. Those girls really are strange."

Though she had said it, she felt that **she** was the strange one. Just hours ago, she had been ready to rip Sam's and the other girl's heads off, but now she was as calm as could be. What would Scar say if he saw her now?

"...It doesn't matter. I'll pay those girls back soon enough...'

Flipping through another page of the physics book, she wondered just how long it was. With school not starting for a number of hours, she supposed she had time to find out.

END


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Cleaning with SOAP Part 3

It was another day for Christine the Spy at Malibu University. While she walked to class that morning, she kept yawning over and over. She rubbed at her puffy, red eyes, annoyed at the seemingly endless supply of tears coming out of them. It wasn't often she was this tired, but then again, it wasn't often she stayed up all night reading. The book Sam had given her titled 'Everything You Need To Know About Physics And More!' was more engaging that Chris had imagined and before she knew it, the sun had come up by the time she had finished reading through the complete text for the second time. At the very least, if she couldn't complete her mission in stealing Dr. Heisenberg's invention, she could certainly go into a career in quantum physics.

"Need...coffee," she muttered, trudging through campus like a zombie. The Mali-U Café was just up ahead, so she opted to grab a cup of coffee before class. "Just...one cup..."

She dragged her body toward the direction of the Internet café, slamming it into person after person in her exhausted state. Eventually, she made it to her destination, but was horrified to see a line of people at the coffee stand

"Good morning! How are..." Nurse Melody, who was walking away when she spotted Chris, dropped the paper cup filled with decaf in her hands and rushed over to her. "Goodness! A-Are you alright?! Y-You look even worse than yesterday!"

"Need...coffee," Chris muttered in response. Her trembling hands reached out for the other cup of coffee in the nurse's hand. "Just...one cup..."

"W-Wait! T-That one isn't mine, it's...!"

Melody shook her head, supposing that it didn't matter. She instead pulled a pocket sized flashlight out of the pocket on her white coat and flicked it on, shining the light in both of Chris' eyes. Black bags encircled the bottom of them and even with the bright illumination, Chris didn't flinch at it, more focused on drinking the piping hot cup of caffeine in her grasp.

"H-Have you been sleeping well?" Nurse Melody inquired.

Chris nodded. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that you look about ready to pass out. Not to mention you have all the classic signs of sleep deprivation..."

"I'm fine. I just need some coffee. Just one cup..."

"Y-Yes, you've...said that already."

Chris slowly drank her cup of coffee and almost instantly, her features looked much better. It was as if she had gotten the full eight hours of sleep most doctors recommend. Melody's jaw fell wide open at this, as such a thing should have been impossible. Confused by the look she was receiving, Chris stretched her neck and raised one of her eyebrows.

"What?" she then asked. "I told you I just needed a cup of coffee."

"B-But...?!"

"My body is trained to work on as little energy as possible. Therefore, one cup of coffee for me is like one hundred for you. Is that so strange?"

Chris walked away, leaving a still baffled Nurse Melody to fix her glasses, wondering if she had been merely imagining things just then.

* * *

Chris was about to exit the café until she caught sight of Sam, Clover, and Alex chatting at one of the tables. In haste, she tried slinking away and out of sight, but to no avail, as Clover spotted her and began to wave in her direction.

"Hey there!" Clover yelled from across the room. "Come here!"

It would have been easy for Chris to just ignore her and walk away anyway, but something compelled her to suck in her pride. Forcing a smile, she walked over to the trio's table and took a seat at their invitation.

_Why is it I can't seem to avoid these girls?_

"H-Hello," she muttered to them. "G-Good morning."

"Good morning!" Sam replied. "You're coming to class today, right?"

"Yes. I also finished that book you gave me. Thank you again for giving it to me."

"No problem!" Sam replied. "So, tell me! What did you think about the part pertaining to the behavior of photons and electrons?"

"W-Wait! You guys aren't talking about that fat book Sam picked up from the bookstore yesterday, are you?!" said Clover, who's expression looked just like Nurse Melody's when Chris left her. "T-That thing was like a bazillion pages! And you're saying you **finished it**?!"

"Twice," said Chris nonchalantly. "I wanted to make sure I understood everything alright."

"M-My head hurts just thinking about something like that!" said Alex. "You guys are total bookworms!"

"Seriously. The only time I ever read that much is when a new fashion magazine comes out," Clover stated.

Checking her watch, Chris said, "I really have to be getting to class, so..."

"Yeah, she's right," said Sam. "We wouldn't want to miss a minute of Professor Heisenberg's lecture today!"

A drop of sweat rolled down both Clover's and Alex's heads.

"Well, I guess I better head to Fashion Design Class," said Clover, standing and stretching. "There's this totally cute boy in my class and I think he has the hots for me!"

"Somehow, I doubt it," Alex whispered.

"What did you say?!"

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all! Er...w-would you look at the time! I have my All About Dogs course coming up! See you girls later!"

Alex almost broke the doors to the café off in an attempt to leave as fast as she could.

"All About Dogs course?" said Chris slowly. "What's that?"

"Nothing, unless you want to be able to tell if your dog has fleas," replied Clover. She stuck out her tongue in disgust at the concept.

"Alex says we simply don't understand all the 'subtle nuances' that comes with being an animal lover every time we bring up how silly the course sounds," Sam explained.

The class sounded just as useless as Sam and Clover said it was in Chris' opinion. The three of them began to laugh in unison at this fact and in the middle of it, Chris realized what she was doing. Covering her mouth in shock and confusion, she returned to her usual, serious demeanor and abruptly walked away without saying a word.

"Hey! What's the rush?" Clover asked in her wake.

"I'm wasting time here," was Chris' simple reply.

She headed back outside onto campus, still unsure as to why she was allowing herself to have such a grand time with the enemy. Sam, Alex, and Clover were WOOHP spies. Hitting herself in the head, she reminded herself of this while also acknowledging that she was slacking off somewhat. She was a SOAP agent first and foremost.

_I can't keep goofing off like this. SOAP is counting on me!_

* * *

Chris' trek in the direction of Dr. Heisenberg's lecture hall was halted when she went down a corridor filled with strange posters on a majority of the walls. Even stranger was the smugly smiling girl depicted on them, a girl Chris could have sworn she had seen before. The answer to the identity of the individual didn't take long for her to figure out, as a loud, high-pitched laugh filled her ears out of the blue.

"Mandy..." she said through gritted teeth.

Mandy, the girl Chris had had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting yesterday, was standing on the back of her intern Trent like he were a ladder. Trent, obviously in pain, seemed to be ignoring his anguish for Mandy's benefit, though Chris had no idea why anyone would want to do such a thing of their own free will. Perhaps Mandy had some sort of mind control chip inserted in his brain. As silly as it sounded, it was the sole thing Chris could think of to explain their relationship.

"Trent! Stop moving around so much!" Mandy barked. "Do you want me to break my neck or something?!"

"N-No, Mandy," Trent groaned, straightening up so as to quell her ire.

With Trent's help, Mandy was putting up flier after flier, advertising herself for some purpose Chris honestly didn't want to know about. Taking this into account, she put her head down in an attempt to rush through the hallway without being noticed. This didn't work, however, since Mandy's keen eye caught sight of her.

"Hey, loser!" she bellowed. "Just where do you think you're going?!"

The list of inexplicable things Chris had done at Mali-U increased by one when she stopped and turned back around. Ignoring a person like Mandy was easier in prospect than execution, it seemed.

"Hello...Mandy," said Chris sheepishly.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face to **me **after what happened yesterday!" Mandy jumped off Trent's back, causing him to grunt, and walked over to Chris while smiling. "**Especially** in an outfit like **that**! Is there a 'buy one, get two ugly ones free' sale going on at the mall or something?!"

There it was again. Chris cringed at the distinct tone of Mandy's laughter. It was by far the worst thing she had ever heard in her life and she was certain that no matter how many times she would have to withstand it, she would never get used to it.

"I'm running for the Miss Mali-U competition, as you can so clearly see!" Mandy then stated as she held her arms out toward the many photos of herself everywhere. "Only the most beautiful and popular girl on campus has a shot of winning, so **naturally**, the judges just have to pick **me**!"

"I don't care," Chris replied candidly and with an air of exasperation.

Mandy, either not hearing or her just not caring, went on with, "I don't even know why the other girls on campus are even bothering to sign up! It's not like any of them can even remotely hold a candle to yours truly! Right, Trent?"

"..."

"RIGHT, TRENT?!"

"Y-Yes, Mandy!" said Trent in surprise at his presence being acknowledged.

Chris hadn't the foggiest idea why anyone would be interested in entering the sort of contest where the participants did nothing more than flaunt their beauty. It was the type of thing made for idiots and by idiots. Thinking on it some more, it made perfect sense to her why a person like Mandy took such interest in it now.

"Good luck then," said Chris, who walked right past Mandy without another word.

"H-Hey! Get back here!" Mandy yelled. "Y-You can't just ignore me! And what do you mean by 'good luck?!' **I** don't need luck! You're just saying that because you're **jealous**!"

Mandy face resembled a beet at the moment and Chris didn't understand why she was getting so upset over a simple good gesture.

Mandy continued her mad rant. "Y-You wouldn't last ten seconds against me in the Miss Mali-U contest! In fact, you wouldn't even last **five** seconds against the likes of me, so...so just keep walking, loser!"

That last remark was enough to make Chris cease her walking to class. In fact, it was enough to do a little more than that. Everyone present in the hallway gasped when she slowly rotated her head back in Mandy's direction, giving the latter a clear glimpse of her bloodshot eyes. For a moment, both Mandy and Trent thought her glare alone would kill them, as their skin turned a sickly pale color.

"...Where do I sign up for this Miss Mali-U competition?" Chris asked in a calm manner that didn't remotely match her body language.

Mandy pointed to a nearby table with a trembling fingertip and Chris walked over to it. The girl sitting at the table gulped before handing Chris a sign up sheet. Chris filled it out to the best of her ability and stuffed it into the ballot box. With the hallway utterly quiet, she grabbed her backpack off the ground and headed for class once more. Before departing though, she looked back at Mandy one last time.

"Not only am I going to win that silly contest, I'm going to show you that you aren't as great as you think you are, Mandy. Prepared to be crushed under the weight of your own hubris."

Those words lingered in everyone's minds, even after Chris had gone.

"I-I-I'm not scared of her!" said a still shaking Mandy. Sweat drenched her forehead and with her falling to her knees, she added, "E-Even if she enters the contest, she doesn't stand a chance against me! R-R-R-Right, Trent?!"

Trent, rather than responding, simply gave a curt nod.

* * *

Finally, Chris made it to Physics 101. She took her seat, certain for some time before arriving that she would never see the lecture of hall of Dr. Heisenberg again. Getting to class each and every day shouldn't have been as hard as the classes themselves, she thought.

"Huh? How did I make it here before you?" asked Sam, who was seated adjacent to Chris again. "D-Didn't you leave before me?"

"I got a bit...tied up," Chris replied, sighing. "...Do you know anything about the Miss Mali-U competition?"

Sam nodded. "It's something the school started just this year. It's this silly contest where girls all over campus are going to flaunt their beauty and talents to a bunch of judges. It's rather stupid, isn't it?"

"...I'm entering it."

Sam's face froze into a look of horror. "U-Uh...d-did I say the competition was stupid?! Er...w-what I **meant** to say is that that it could really be a great opportunity for someone like you! Y-Yeah...!"

Chris groaned. "You don't have to pretend to like it. I thought the whole concept was asinine too, but then I ran into Mandy and before I knew it, I had signed up for the stupid thing."

"Oh great. You're already acquainted with Mandy then? At least you've only had to deal with her for a little while. Clover, Alex, and I have had to deal with her for most of our lives..."

"You have my condolences."

At the front of the class, Heisenberg was writing a rather complex formula on the board. A number of the students began chatting about it, speculating if it was something they would have to solve as apart of the lesson today.

"Welcome to another stimulating day in Physics 101!" Heisenberg said to the entire class just then. "I hope you're all ready to dive into the wonderful world of quantum mechanics again!" He then paused and looked down at a clipboard in his grasp before leering back up. His gaze found its way over to Chris' area, though she could tell that he was staring at her in particular. "Christine, is it? Would you mind standing up for me?"

Chris jumped at the sound of her name and she stood as asked.

"Could you please describe for me the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics?"

The inquisition itself was harmless, yet something about it made Chris stiffen up. Her peers descended into whispers again, while Sam began waving her hand around briskly in an effort to answer the question herself.

"Put your hand down, Samantha," Heisenberg said. "I want Christine to answer this one."

Although disappointed, Sam complied with the request.

Coolly, Chris finally stated, "The uncertainty theory states that the more closely one determines one measurement as being accurate, the less accurate another measurement pertaining to the same particle must become."

"...That is correct," Heisenberg informed her. "Very good, Christine. I see someone has been doing their homework!"

Chris took her seat again, while nearby students glanced at her, amazed by her extensive knowledge.

"Nice job!" said Sam, flashing a thumbs up.

Chris shrugged. "I only knew that because of that book you gave me. It's no big deal."

Unlike everyone else, Chris was far more interested in Heisenberg at the moment.

_...What the hell was that about? __Why'd he single me out when there's hundreds of other kids in this classroom right now?_

* * *

The class period ended with the sound of the bell and everyone inside the lecture hall quickly piled outside. Chris headed for the exit as well, hoping for a chance to get Heisenberg alone again and find out more about his invention. However, she was stopped by Sam, who looked a tad bit exhausted.

"That in class assignment was rough, huh?" she stated. "I didn't think we'd learn about the photoelectric effect so soon!"

"I guess, but at least we'll be more prepared for that test on Thursday now."

A lone bead of sweat rolled down the back of Chris' head at her own comment. She had gotten so into the lecture that for a moment, she had forgotten she wasn't actually a student there at Mali-U.

"Hey, we should totally head to Mali-U Café right now! After a lecture like that, I say we get some smoothies and just relax for the rest of the afternoon..."

As nice as that sounded, Chris knew she didn't have time for that. Besides, it was becoming apparent that Sam and the others were beginning to get far too friendly with her. No matter what they though of her, Chris was their enemy and vice versa. She would be destroying them soon enough, so the idea of sharing a smoothie with Sam was quite laughable.

Or at least it should have been. In the back of Chris' mind, she had half a mind to accept the offer.

"Excuse me, Christine?" Dr. Heisenberg walked up to Chris and Sam, saving Chris the trouble of having to turn Sam down in the process. "I need something I have to discuss with you in private. Do you have some free time right now?"

"Oops! Well, I guess I'll have to take a rain check on our little trip to the Mali-U Café," said Sam with the slightest hint of disappointment in her voice. "By the way, Professor Heisenberg, that was a great lecture today! I'll see you later, Chris!"

Sam waved to Chris and then disappeared out the door, leaving the latter and Heisenberg all alone. While the situation was perfect, as Chris had been intending to do something like this anyway, it was quite fishy in her opinion.

"...What's this all about?" she asked him.

"Oh, I just wanted to follow up on the discussion we never got an opportunity to get to yesterday. Then again, from what I've seen from you in class, you may not need my tutoring after all!" said a smiling Heisenberg.

"O-Oh, I see! Thank you then, Professor, for taking time out of your day to help me."

Chris' suspicions faded away and she relaxed, as a confident grin appeared on her face.

_Perfect. How fortunate that Heisenberg is going to reveal his hand to me, rather than me having to force him to do so._

"Oh, it's no problem at all!" said Heisenberg in response to Chris' earlier remark. "I'm happy to take time out for my students, especially when they're so eager to learn about the wonderful world of quantum mechanics! Most see it as a rather complicated subject, but it's actually quite simple once you break it down."

As she listened to him ramble on about nothing in particular, Chris couldn't help but note how they weren't heading for his office this time around, but his desk.

"Are we going to do the tutoring in your classroom?"

Heisenberg nodded. "Yes, but there's something I want to show you first."

The two arrived in front of his desk, where Heisenberg twisted his nameplate ever so slightly. Suddenly, the ground underneath the two proceeded to shake, knocking Chris off her feet. A circular portion then began to descend, slowly at first, but speeding up with time.

"W-What the hell is going on?!" Chris demanded to know.

With a malicious grin, Heisenberg replied, "I told you, didn't I? I have something I want to show you."

The elevator reached its destination soon enough: an expansive area filled with an abundance of strange machinery Chris didn't recognize. All around were people in white lab coats working diligently, each one of them stopping momentarily to greet Heisenberg as he stepped off the platform.

"Follow me," he told Chris.

She hesitantly did so, asking, "...What is this place?"

"My secret laboratory. Do you like it? I've hidden it underneath the campus of Malibu University! Even the Headmaster and Dean of Students have no idea this place exists! Bah, like those jabbering idiots could do something about it even if they did know! It is where my colleagues and I do research pertaining to the advancement of quantum physics."

While continuing to quietly trail behind Dr. Heisenberg, Chris got a good look at the machinery surrounding her on every side. Despite Heisenberg having said his lab was used for quantum physics research, none of the machines here seemed suited for it. In fact, the place took on the appearance of a factory more than anything, but a factory for what?

"I don't get it," she said. "Why keep the lab a secret? If you're just working on physics research, why not have it out in the open?"

"Hmph, you certainly are quite bright, Christine," responded Heisenberg. He then faced her and inquired, "Tell me, what do you know about the speed of light?"

Stopping suddenly, Christine's eyes widened. She knew **exactly** why Dr. Heisenberg had brought her to this place now. It was too late for her to act, however. A cell with metallic bars abruptly appeared from the ground and formed around her, trapping her. The second she touched one of the bars to break herself free, over a thousand bolts of electricity coursed through her body.

"Hahaha! Careful now! The bars are quite 'shocking' to the touch!" said Heisenberg.

Chris groaned. "You don't say?"

"Still acting cheeky, are we?" Heisenberg's smile vanished, replaced by pure, unadulterated rage. "Well, **I'm** the one in control now! Did you really think I would be foolish enough not to know a SOAP agent was running around campus?!"

"...I see. So it was **you** that knew who I really was. Still, that doesn't explain how you could have know. Who told you?"

"Hmph! That doesn't matter now, does it?! I have you as my prisoner, meaning SOAP will never gets its hands on my Light Speed Power Suit! I **know** it was you prying around in my office yesterday! I don't know how you managed to slip past me, but I'll make you pay the price for snooping around through other people's files!"

Chris wasn't intimidated in the least by Heisenberg's 'threats.' "This cell is only going to delay me for a little longer, old man. If you wish to save yourself from a world of pain, I highly suggest you have over your Light Speed Power Suit right now."

"Ha! You have a lot of nerve demanding things from me while trapped inside that cell! It's just a shame my precious robot didn't finish you off yesterday."

"Tch. That's what you too then?"

"That's right! Quantum mechanics might be what I'm know best for, but it is robotics that sways my heart in reality! For years, I've created androids and other machines in the hopes of being accepted by the scientific community for something other than my work in quantum physics! However, all my wonderful creations were turned away by my idiotic peers! Everyone told me that while my efforts were 'admirable', I should just stick to what I was good at! Those fools! They wouldn't know genius if it hit them right between the eyes!"

"If that hunk of junk you sent after me yesterday at The Groove was any indication, I'm thinking those 'fools' were onto something. That robot wouldn't have been able to hurt a fly, let alone kill me."

Heisenberg snarled. "Y-You're no better than those idiots than shunned me! Well, no more! I'm finally going to get revenge on the world for attempting to stifle my genius!"

"Before you go on explaining your master plan," said Chris, holding her hand up. "I just want you to know that I don't care what it is you've got cooked up. All I want is the Light Speed Power Suit."

"Hmph! You're rather overconfident, aren't you? Like I said before, **I'm** the one in control now! The Light Speed Power Suit is **my** invention and I'm going to use it to further my goals! Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have a world domination plot that needs my undivided attention! You can sit there in rot in that cell in the meanwhile. I'll decide what to do with you later."

Heisenberg let out a few more mad cackles before disappearing.

Chris simply rolled her eyes at this. "Better fill Scar in on all this."

She turned on her Z-Powder and tried contacting her leader, yet she got nothing but static.

"Great, the signal must be being jammed. Oh well, Plan B it is."

Heisenberg might have been a great quantum physicist, but he was an idiot when it came to common sense in Chris' opinion. He had failed to take any of her gadgets away, meaning she still had possession of her All Purpose Fountain Pen Laser. She easily cut a hole big enough for her to fit through in the bars, sliding out of it and landing on the floor. She then used her Z-Powder to slip into her catsuit.

"Alright, time to see where that loon Heisenberg got off to."

* * *

The security in Heisenberg's facility was rather lax, so much so that Chris was able to simply stroll through as if she owned the place. The many scientist that Heisenberg mentioned were his colleagues were far too engrossed in their research to give a care about her.

"Okay...? Something isn't right here. This is way too easy."

Her words proved to be true when she reached a wide open area. From the rafters came a dozen or so metallic robots, all exact replicas of the one that had attacked The Groove yesterday, though they were much smaller, only slightly taller than Chris. They were just as poorly constructed, with one even sparking from the head.

"...Heisenberg really **should** just stick to quantum physics," Chris stated, shaking her head.

The robots charged at her and she easily dispatched them with some fancy moves, slicing the last one in half with her laser pen. It was hard for her to believe that they actually looked better than they fought.

"Wouldn't it have been more efficient for the old man to just higher incompetent henchmen? It probably would have saved him some money too," she stated. She then kicked the head of one of the robots to the side. "Now then, where did Heisenberg go? It would be a pain if he's already left the facility because I don't have anyway of tracking him."

An adjacent hallway was suddenly filled with the sounds of heels clacking against the metal flooring and without delay, Chris hid herself. She then moved her head just enough to peak around the corner. With a low groan, she was dismayed when she saw Sam, Alex, and Clover appear. It seemed that no matter where she was and what she was doing, she couldn't rid herself of the trio.

_What are they doing here?_

"Dr. Heisenberg isn't too far now!" said Sam, pointing in a certain direction. "We have to stop whatever he's planning before it's too late! I just can't believe my awesome physics teacher turned out to be a bad guy!"

"This seems to happen to us a lot with the people we know," chimed Alex.

"Jer's analysis of that robot from yesterday definitely says Heisenberg has something to do with this," said Clover. "No point complaining about it now!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Alright, girls, it's spy time!" Sam proclaimed.

The three dashed down another corridor of the complex, just as Chris came out of her cover.

"Tch! So WOOHP is after Heisenberg too then? No way I can let them get to him first! That Light Speed Power Suit is mine!"

She was certain she had a good idea where Sam, Clover, and Alex were headed. She was also certain she could trail them without being seen. Above her was a drainage pipe, so she latched her bungee cable onto it and climbed inside. It was dark and damp in the pipe, although it was nothing she wasn't accustomed to as a spy. She dragged herself through the narrow passage for a number of minutes until she heard voices coming from the floor underneath her. An opening allowed her to take a gander at what was unfolding. To her surprise, Heisenberg and the WOOHP agents were now face to face. Her first instinct was to jump down and join them, but she stopped herself, feeling it was better to wait and see what happened first.

"W-Why are so many others interfering with my plan?!" Heisenberg proclaimed.

"When it comes to stopping bad guys like you, it's kinda our job," Sam told him. "If you think we're just going to allow you to unleash your army of robots on the entire world, you've got another thing coming!"

Chris frowned at what she was hearing. "**That's** the evil plan he's been going on about? He really is an amateur when it comes to this 'evil villain' stuff."

"We'll just see about that!" said Heisenberg in response to Sam. He snapped his fingers and a mob of robots fell at his sides.

"Whoa! He was crazy prepared for us!" cried Alex.

"We'll just have to send these tin cans back to the recycling bin where they belong!" Clover hollered.

The trio engaged the androids and with them distracted, Chris knew it was time for her to act. She jumped into the fray herself, bursting from the pipe, landing on the ground, and making Heisenberg jump at her presence.

"Y-You again...?!" he yelled. "H-How did you escape my electric cage?!"

"Well, like everything else you make, Doc, that one was a dub," Chris answered. "I don't want to sound like I'm repeating myself, but hand over your Light Speed Power Suit."

"Never! Your persistence in trying to steal it will be your downfall, spy!"

"A-Ah! Look girls, it's that evil spy again!" said Alex, as she fought off robot after robot.

Clover, wrestling a machine to the ground, added, "Wasn't she from some group called SUDS or something?"

"That's **SOAP**, you idiot!" Chris snapped. "Spies Organized Against Peace! Anyway, I didn't think we would all meet again so soon, WOOHP spies. I'll let you ladies handle those nasty robots. If you don't mind, I'll just take Heisenberg for myself!"

"S-She must be after Heisenberg's invention!" Sam stated. "W-We have to stop her!"

That was easier said than done. More of Heisenberg's robots swarmed onto the scene and quickly began to overwhelm the WOOHP agents, much to Chris' amusement. That left her all alone with Heisenberg.

"I'm not here to stop your 'evil' plan, old man," she informed him. "You can try to take over the world if you really want to. Then again, your robots wouldn't even be able to take over a middle school. I only want that Light Speed Power Suit of yours."

"Hahaha! If you want it so bad, come and get it! That is, if you even can!"

Heisenberg ripped off his clothing, revealing that he in fact was wearing the red and white power suit this whole time. Chris had no qualms in having to rough him up if that's what it took to get his invention, she charging at him to do so. However, she got nothing but the air when she swung and much to her shock and confusion, Heisenberg was gone.

"Where did he...?!"

"Behind you!"

She turned her head to see that Heisenberg was indeed behind her. She tried jumping on him again, but like before, her arms grabbed nothing but the space in front of her. A kick then found its way in the back of her head, knocking her over. Heisenberg appeared once more, laughing at her failures thus far to capture him.

"Perhaps you didn't study up enough after all!" he told her. "Have you forgotten already? This suit allows me to move at the speed of light! Even if there were a hundred of you, you would never be able to catch me!"

Rubbing the back of her head, Chris saw that the old professor had a point. He vanished from sight again and began to pound Chris with a barrage of unseen punches. The most she could do to defend herself was hold her arms up. Another blow swept her off her feet and crashing, she groaned a bit, struggling to stand again.

"Is that all you've got?!" cried Heisenberg, who was now running in a circle around her in a mocking fashion. "Not much coming for a spy such as yourself!"

Ignoring the harsh words flung her way, Chris pulled out some smoke bombs and tossed them downward.

"W-What's going on?!" Heisenberg asked in a panic, as he was unable to see anything through the thick cloud of smoke hovering around him.

A thick bungee cable suddenly found itself around his waist and with a strong tung, he was jerked forward and toward a lying in wait Chris.

"You're right about one thing, Doc," she told him, as she tied him up. "Even if there were a hundred of me, I wouldn't be able to catch you, but if you can't see me, then it's a whole different story."

"Hmph. You're more cunning that I thought, spy. However, you underestimate the unpredictability of quantum mechanics!"

Chris hadn't won the battle just yet. Heisenberg, employing some high speed moves, broke himself free of his bindings and got a good distance away from his enemy. He then snapped his fingers once more. Following this was an entire battalion of robots falling from the sky, more than enough to overpower Chris in a flash.

_Poorly made or not, I could be in trouble here._

She stood her ground, unsure of what to do.

The mass of machines that had piled on top the WOOHP agents sometime ago were all frozen into a block of ice out of the blue and then shattered into pieces. Sam, Alex, and Clover then reappeared, no worse for the wear.

"That...was a little too close," Sam admitted. "Thank goodness Jerry gave us the Icy Fresh Liquid Nitrogen Breath Spray this time around."

Clover sprayed some of the mentioned spray in her mouth, stating, "Effective in stopping baddies and bad breath!"

"Uh...guys? I think that SOAP spy is about to be torn to shreds by those nasty robots," said Alex just then.

"Really?! Aw, we should have brought some popcorn along so we could watch!" said Clover.

Sam frowned. "E-Even if we are enemies, we can't just let Heisenberg's robots do whatever they want! Come on, girls, we've got to help her!"

Alex and Clover looked less than enthusiastic about the prospect, but eventually, they nodded and agreed. The trio sprung into action, just as the army of robots charged for the otherwise helpless Chris.

"Use the Cat Fight Gloves!" Sam told Alex and Clover.

The three slipped on pink rubber gloves and Heisenberg laughed.

"And just what are those silly things supposed to do?" he inquired.

He soon found out when three sharp claws retracted from the gloves. The WOOHP agents then proceeded to slice and dice Heisenberg's creations with relative ease. While Chris watched them do so, she couldn't get a grasp of what was going on.

_Are they actually...helping me? _

Before long, a pile of smoldering scraps of metal was all the remained around Sam, Alex, and Clover, each of them flashing smiles at this fact.

"N-No! NO! H-How can this be?!" Heisenberg fell to his knees and clutched the sides of his head. "W-Why do so many people deny me of my dream?!"

"Sorry, Professor! Looks like you're going to have to find another dream to chase!" said Sam.

"Yeah! I'm sure you could probably find something else you're good at, like maybe a career as a shoe designer or just someone that cruises the mall on weekends!" Clover added.

Heisenberg growled in anger at what he was hearing, yet without warning, it was replaced with spontaneous laughter.

"Oh, I don't like the sound of that!" said Alex. "Every time a bad guy starts laughing like this, it's never a good thing!"

"You girls just don't understand, do you?!" Heisenberg's expression twisted into once of pure madness. "Did you think you had destroyed every robot I had at my disposal?! The rest of my wonderful machines are already on standby at various places around the globe! With one push of a button, I can activate them to have them wreak complete and utter havoc!"

He pulled out a small remote with a single red button in the center, intending to show everyone present exactly what he meant. Sam attempted to jump at him and stop him, but he merely got out of the way with the aid of his Light Speed Power Suit and appeared on the other side of the room.

"No one can stop me now!" he exclaiming, slamming his finger down on the button.

There were a few moments of awkward silence.

"D-Did he do it?" asked Alex, who stopped bracing herself.

"I dunno," Clover replied. "I figured something cooler would happen after he pressed the button..."

Alex and Clover weren't the only ones confused by the inactivity. Heisenberg began mashing down on his remote because the signal for his robots to strike wasn't being sent out.

"Why?! Why won't my robots move?!" he cried.

"Probably because you forgot to put batteries in your little remote there," said Chris, who was now standing behind the professor.

Heisenberg checked the back of his device and saw that Chris was spot on in her assessment. "H-How could I have overlooked something so simple?!"

"You should take it as a sign, Doc. You're a real hack when it comes to robotics."

Chris spun Heisenberg around before nailing him in the jaw with a right hook. Now seeing stars, the professor groaned on the floor and muttered something about his 'dream being dead.'

"What an idiot," Chris stated, shaking her head.

She reached down Heisenberg and ripped the Light Speed Power Suit right off his body, leaving him stripped down to his boxer shorts. Sam, Alex, and Clover hastily shielded their eyes from this.

"Ew! Groddy!" Clover squealed. "The last thing I wanted to see today was some hairy old man in his underwear!"

"We can't let you leave here with that suit!" said Sam, trying to cover her eyes and talk to Chris at the same time. "Hand it over!"

"As much as I'd like to..." Chris began. "I'm afraid I can't do that. My boss wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I returned without it after all this time."

"What do you think **our** boss is gonna do if we don't come back with it too?!" said Alex.

"Psh! Some gratitude! We just totally saved your butt back there, so the least you could do is let us have that suit thingy!" said Clover.

"Hey, I never asked for you help. If you three were really smart, you would have let those robots finish me off and reap the rewards for yourself. Nevertheless, I guess I **should** be thanking you for your assistance today! I wouldn't have made it out of here without you three!"

Chris then aimed her cable toward a nearby railing, waving as she scaled up to it.

"We'll finish what we started yesterday soon enough," she told the three below.

"Oh no you don't! You're not getting away!" Sam cried.

The WOOHP agents attached their very own cables to the same railing and headed right for Chris. Smirking, Chris grabbed her All Purpose Fountain Pen Laser and burned off their wires, causing the girls to scream before slamming into the ground.

"I learned my lesson from yesterday," she then informed them. "You girls just 'hang out' down there. If you'll excuse me, I have to get this suit back to base."

With that, Chris made her exit and the WOOHP agents weren't able to do a thing to stop her.

"Ugh. I think my spleen is broken," said Alex, who slowly sat up and held her side.

Clover did the same thing, but let out a shrill scream as she did.

"W-What's wrong?!" Sam asked in concern.

"I totally broke a nail when we fell just then!" Clover said. Tears ran down her face and she added, "And I just got a new manicure yesterday!"

Both Sam and Alex had to hold back the urge to smack their friend upside the head.

* * *

Running was the lone thing on Chris' mind. She had no clue where she was going or even what direction she was headed in. Her legs were on autopilot on and despite her lungs crying for fresh air, she didn't stop. If it weren't for her tripping over a branch and falling onto her face, she might not have ever stopped. Reality hit her and she looked around at the forest she had somehow traversed to. She wasn't even sure there **were** forests near Malibu. Checking behind her, she saw nothing more than her own footprints in the Earth.

"I-I think I got away," she said, wheezing for air. Her entire body was stiff, so she sat down against a tree and pulled out her Z-Powder. "S-Scar...are you there?"

"I am indeed," Scar replied. "You hadn't reported back to me in quite some time. I was beginning to get worried."

"I-I know. T-The signal got jammed and I..."

"By the way, I found out you entered the Miss Mali-U Contest at your school! Good for you!" Scar clapped his hands for a few seconds. "I never took you as the type to be so adventurous."

"W-Would you shut up for a sec! I'm trying to tell you I've got...!"

Scar still wasn't listening. "Since you're entering the contest and all, we'll have to pick you out a cute little dress to wear. Oh, I can see it now! It can have flowers and frills and maybe some glitter and..."

Tired of having to talk over him, Chris simply aimed her Z-Powder at the Light Speed Power Suit. There was a bright flash before the suit was transferred over to Scar's end. It landed right on top of his his face, causing him to go berserk for a couple moments before he finally pulled the rubber off him.

"W-What the...?! I-Is this the Light Speed Power Suit?!" he asked in astonishment. "H-Hey, are you...laughing?"

Chris quickly shielded her face with her free hand. "N-No...! And yes, that's the suit. I managed to get it off Heisenberg after all."

"You're sure it's the real thing?"

"Yeah. I've seen it in action. Trust me, it works."

Scar nodded. "You've done a good job, Christine."

"...I thought I told you not to call me that," said Chris with a vein pulsating on her forehead.

"Oh, of course. My apologies. Any who, did those pesky WOOHP agents show up again?"

"They did."

"And did you eliminate them?"

Chris paused for a moment. "N-No. There wasn't an opportunity for me to do so."

Scar was obviously bothered to learn this, yet he stated, "...It's fine. As I said before, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to get rid of them in the near future. What's most important here is that you completed your mission successfully. SOAP owes you a great debt, Agent C."

Hearing those words meant a lot to Chris, more so than she thought they would.

"Send someone to pick me up and take me back to base, would you?" she asked wearily. "I have no idea where I am right now."

Scar held up his hand. "Not so fast, Agent C. Your undercover mission isn't over just yet."

"WHAT?!" Chris' voice echoed about the forest, scaring off a number of nearby wildlife. "Y-You can't be serious?! Do you **know** how awful college life really is?! I would rather you lock me up in the SOAP dungeons than send me back to Malibu University again!"

"R-Relax there," Scar told Chris, watching as steam shot out of her nostrils. "I have been doing some thinking as of late and I believe that it would be in SOAP's benefit if you remained there at Malibu University for a little while longer."

"...I don't follow."

"The WOOHP agents are still there, correct? Perhaps there's a way we can use their presence to our advantage. I believe that if we play our cards right, we might not only be able to take out the spies who have become a massive thorn in your side, but also the entire WOOHP organization as well."

Chris saw some logic in her boss' words despite her feelings of ire lingering. If it would help her crush WOOHP once and for all, she was willing to withstand anything, including being a college student for a little while longer.

"I-I suppose you have a point," she finally told Scar. "F-Fine. I will do as you command."

"Good. That's what I like to hear. Besides, you should try to enjoy your time as a college student! Most girls your age would kill for the opportunity! Of course, now that you'll be staying at Mali-U for a tad bit longer, I suppose we can go back to discussing what you'll wear for the Miss Mali-U contest! We can pick out some pretty makeup and shoes and...!"

"No."

Having had just about enough of that discussion, Chris shut her Z-Powder. As big a pain as Heisenberg might have been, she debated whether or not she would have rather had to deal with him on a regular basis than Scar.

END


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Beauty and the Geek

"Mhmm! Yes, just a little more eyeshadow there and...!"

Sitting in front of a mirror and diligently applying more makeup to her face was an incredibly attractive young woman. With a dab here and a dab there, the girl let out a gasp filled with excitement at how well the eyeliner went with her almost flawless, dark skin. She had presumed that it was impossible to make herself more beautiful, though she was pleasantly surprised to find that she was wrong.

"Alright! There's no way I can lose the Miss Mali-U competition now!" she stated. Her voice was brimmed with confidence and as she blew a few kisses at her own reflection, she added, "Now then, which shade of lipstick should I use? I was thinking coral blue, but..."

A sudden noise inside of her dorm room caused the girl to leap in fright. Her head immediately shot over to her door, yet there was no one there. She had locked it, so it shouldn't have been possible for anyone to come in anyway. Why was it then that she felt as if a pair of eyes were glowering at the back of her head?

"H-Hello?" she asked timidly. "I-Is someone there?"

Her supposedly locked door creaked open slowly just then. Panic filled her features while it did so and in her haste to get up and flee, she knocked over everything on the counter she had been sitting in front of. Various makeup products and other knick knacks crashed against the carpeting. However, the sounds of them shattering were overshadowed by the girl now screaming for her life. A bright, pink flash enveloped her afterward and could be seen from a nearby window for miles up ahead.

* * *

Morning came upon Malibu University faster than Chris liked. It had solely been her third day of college, yet she had grown weary of it already. Therefore, dragging herself to her Physics 101 class was more of a challenge than it should have been.

"Gah! Out of my way, you imbecile!" she shouted at a boy who for some reason was catching a football thrown at him by another person down the hallway. Chris could tell by their apparel that they were members of the Mali-U football team. "W-What are you doing?!"

"O-Oh, sorry!" the boy replied, grinning in a goofy manner.

Chris rolled her eyes and strolled past him. For a moment there, she seriously debated if she should have knocked the boy out with a swift roundhouse kick. That would probably draw too much attention to herself though, something she wasn't supposed to do considering she was a undercover agent for SOAP, Spies Organized Against Peace.

"Like I'd let some stupid jock blow my cover," she mumbled to herself.

Of course, the reality she still had a false identity to blow in the first place was more than a little aggravating to her. Dr. Heisenberg's invention was already in SOAP's hands and the good doctor himself had been apprehended and imprisoned by WOOHP. If it weren't for Scar, her boss, being so sure there remained some value in her staying undercover, she would be kicking back in her old quarters at SOAP headquarters this very instant. Instead, she was heading to a lecture that no longer had an instructor.

"...Well, I suppose that big test Heisenberg had scheduled for today won't happen at least..."

She actually laughed at her own joke. A number of people she walked past on her way to class glanced at her in confusion while she continued to giggle merrily. It wasn't often she was able to laugh at anything since being a spy for SOAP was often a humorless profession. It was because of this that for the moment, she didn't care how stupid she appeared in front of everyone.

"Hmm? What's this?"

Walking down another hallway, Chris was greeted by a plethora of posters and signs that all mentioned something about the upcoming Miss Mali-U competition. She smacked her lips at this; the Miss Mali-U contest was something she had been trying to get out of her head since yesterday to no avail. Why had she decided to join the silly pageant on such short notice? She blamed her misfortune on Mandy, the resident mean girl on campus. Her spontaneous decision had been a result of Mandy's ability to irritate even the hardiest of individuals.

"On the other hand, there **is** one reason I'm glad I decided to enter this thing..."

Almost on cue, a large crowd of people started to gather around something up ahead. Chris' curiosity got the better of her and she trailed behind everyone to see what all the commotion was about. While she did so, she gasped upon seeing Sam, Alex, and Clover all standing on their tip toes to get a glimpse of what was happening.

_W-Why is it that I can't seem to avoid these three __for even five seconds?_

"Chris!" said Sam after sighting her. "Good morning!"

"Morning!" said Clover.

"Hey there!" added Alex. "How's it going?"

"G-Good morning," said Chris quietly, becoming apprehensive for some reason. "W-What's going on over here?"

She was able to find out for herself when a portion of the crowd parted enough for her to get a glimpse of what was ahead. Standing on top of some kind of stage was Mandy, who was wearing a very elaborate dress that certainly wasn't something one would put on just to go to school.

"That's right! Take as many pictures of me as you can, everyone! I have to make sure as many people as possible see how great I look right now!" Mandy bellowed before laughing her usual laugh, one that was just as grating as always in Chris' head. "Don't I just look **fabulous**?"

"...What the hell does she think she's doing?" Chris said under her breath.

"Can you believe Mandy right now? I think she's showing off the dress she's going to wear for the Miss Mali-U competition," Sam explained. "So much for the element of surprise."

"Yeah, if I have to watch anymore of this, I'm pretty sure I'm going to hurl up that non fat latte I had earlier this morning," said Clover, who legitimately looked sickened.

Mandy cackled again and then screamed, "TRENT! What are you doing?! I need some more spotlight over here!"

That was the last thing Trent wanted to hear. Having no choice but to heed Mandy's order, he wheeled out another large lamp, struggling as he did so. Chris shook her head as she watched him.

"Someone really needs to get Mandy off her high horse," she stated.

"Hey, that's why we have you!" said Alex. "You gotta beat Mandy for all of us!"

"That's right!" Clover's eyes were gleaming for some reason as she talked. "And you're not gonna do it alone either! With the two of su in the competition, we'll crush Mandy once and for all! Let's not forget to take pictures of her crying afterward and spread them all over the Internet!"

"I think that last part might be...taking things a bit too far," said Sam alongside a few half hearted chuckles.

"Hmm? Wait, you're entering too, Clover?" asked Chris.

"That's right! It would be a crime if someone as beautiful as me didn't enter!"

The response was one of the reasons Chris was questioning her place in the contest.

"Oh, look, the 'Three Stooges' are here!" Mandy, having spotted Sam, Clover, and Alex, found humor in her own joke ahead of catching a glimpse of Chris standing next to them. "Looks like you girls have added a fourth member to your little gang! I should have known someone like you would be hanging out with people like them!"

Chris rolled her eyes at the remark without indulging it with a response.

Mandy continued. "So, how do I look? Good, right? Hahaha! You and Clover might as well just drop out of the pageant right now!"

"Whatever, Mandy! You look about as good as a used handbag right now!" snarled Clover. "The only kind of competition you could ever hope to win is a costume contest when you're wearing a mask like that!"

Mandy rose an eyebrow at this. "M-Mask?! I'm not wearing a mask!"

"Oh really? That's your real face then? I thought you were wearing all that makeup because you were trying to look like one of those monsters from a horror movie!"

The hallway erupted into a frenzy of laughter at Clover's remarks, something that made Mandy's heavily dressed up features redden. Even Chris got a good chuckle out of it. The sight of Mandy embarrassed was even more entertaining than she had imagined.

"Y-You're just **jealous**, Clover!" stated Mandy, who had managed to calm down some. "It must really suck to be you, considering you always dress like one of those Valley Girls! Hmph! Come on, Trent! WE'RE LEAVING!"

Trent followed after Mandy and he cringed when she abruptly tripped on her long dress, slamming face first into the ground. Another torrent of laughter swept through the corridor.

"T-That's **not** funny!" Mandy screamed. She held her now bloodied nose and glared up in Trent's direction. "What are you doing, you nincompoop?! Help me up already!"

"Y-Yes...Mandy..." Unenthusiastically, Trent came to her aid.

"That Trent guy...does he have brain damage or something?"

"Hmm? Why do you ask that, Chris?" said Sam.

"Because that's the only reason I could see him hanging out with Mandy on purpose."

"Pretty harsh...but pretty true," Alex had to admit.

The other three giggled at Chris' remark and whilst they did, Chris began to fidget around in the spot she was standing. There was something she had been meaning to ask the three, yet now that she had the chance, she found herself unable. Blood rushed to her cheeks and though she tried to hide this, Sam, Alex, and Clover soon realized something was up.

"What's the matter? Are you alright?" asked Sam.

"D-Do you have a tummy ache or something?" inquired Alex.

"Ugh! Don't tell me you tried out the 'Mystery Meatloaf' their serving on campus today!" said Clover.

Chris muttered something the girls weren't able to discern.

"You're going to have to speak up!" said Clover.

Chris again spoke, this time in a louder voice. Nevertheless, she still wasn't understood clearly.

"You're almost there!" said Alex.

Taking a huge breath, Chris screamed, "I-I NEED HELP WITH THE MISS MALI-U COMPETITION!"

A number of glances shot over in her direction after she said this, while Sam, Clover, and Alex were left stunned by the declaration.

"Uh...I don't know anything about fashion and makeup and all that other crap, alright?!" Chris stated in a much quieter tone. "I-If I'm going to beat Mandy, I'm going to need you three's help!"

Asking her mortal enemies for assistance almost made Chris want to vomit. Desperate times though called for desperate measures and as much as she hated to admit it, the three WHOOP agents standing in front of her were probably the best people to turn to in a situation like this.

"Ah! **That's** what was bothering you?" asked Sam, laughing. "I thought it was something else for a minute!"

"You bet we'll help you out!" said Clover, flashing a thumbs up.

"H-Huh? Why would you want to help me? We'll be competition in the contest against each other, right? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for you to just help yourself?"

"Nonsense, Chris! Even if we are going up against one another, I would much rather see Mandy crushed than turn my back on a friend!"

"...I-I still don't understand."

No one heard Chris' last remark and she guessed it was better they didn't.

The bell signaling the start of first period sounded throughout the campus at that moment. Not wanting to be late for class, Chris began to skirt off in the direction of the lecture hall. Stopping, she thought of how silly it was she complained about being a college student while trying her best to be a model one at the same time.

"Guess we all better get to class," said Sam. "You guys can discuss the Miss Mali-U contest more later on. How about we all meet up at Mali-U café after our classes are done?"

"Sounds like a great idea! I'll buy the drinks!" said Clover.

"And I'll make them..." Alex sighed. "How come I'm the only one that has to work at the café today?!"

Everyone laughed at the remark before heading off for their respective classes, all except Chris, however. She was instead clutching the Physics book in her hand tightly.

_...__What am I doing? Why am I still hanging out with these girls? Why did I just agree to go to some café with them after school? I don't get it. What's going on with me? Not only am I cohorting with the enemy, __but__ they've somehow convinced me to __get excited about__ some stupid beauty pageant. I don't get it. I just don't understand anymore._

"What's the matter, Chris? If you don't hurry, we're going to be late."

Sam had stopped to check on her friend and Chris shook her head at the question that something could be wrong with her.

* * *

Christine and Samantha found their seats amongst the crowd of muttering students. As Chris had expected, the front of the class was vacant and the usual equations and quantum subject that often filled the blackboard were absent. There was no longer an instructor for this course with Heisenberg behind bars. Still, the fact that it hadn't been canceled made Chris wonder what the school had in store for this vexed classroom full of pupils.

"Hey, I heard old man Heisenberg got arrested!" said one of the students in the room.

"Cool! I guess that means we won't have to do any work today!" his friend replied.

Chris found the discussion strange because she wasn't sure why someone would attend college in the first place if they had no intention of doing any work.

"This is awful," said Sam out of the blue. She looked as if she were on the verge of tears. "With no instructor, how are we supposed to learn more about physics? We were just getting to the good stuff too!""

Her demeanor was wholly different from the the two students Chris had just listened in on. Patting her on the back, Chris held back a chuckle at this fact.

"I'm...sure it'll all work out in the end."

Sam sniffled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The chatter and commotion died down when an individual entered the classroom from below and began scribbling something with chalk on the board.

"Good morning, class!" said the woman below wearing a pair of thick glasses. "My name is Melody Jenkins and starting today, I'm going to be your new Physics 101 teacher!"

Chris' jaw dropped to the floor upon hearing this. Melody Jenkins, the school nurse, had been her last guess for a replacement professor and even though the woman was clearly standing at the head of the class, she still couldn't believe what she was seeing.

_What could she possibly know about quantum physics? _

"Alright! Let's just get right to it!" said Melody. "Today, we're going to be learning all about matrix mechanics! Get out your textbooks and get ready, because this one is a dozy!"

Chris stood corrected.

Sam, eagerly pulling out her book, stated, "It's about time we started learning about this stuff! I thought we'd never get to it!"

Chris wasn't able to join in on Sam's 'fun' because her Z-Powder began to vibrate in her pocket all of a sudden. Standing, she knew she wouldn't be able to answer it with so many prying eyes around.

"Hey, where are you going? The lecture just started," said Sam.

"I'll be right back. I...just have to go to the bathroom."

* * *

The only place Chris could find to hide in was an open locker in the hallway. Dashing into it, she slammed it shut behind her and noted that it was a tight squeeze. At the very least, no one would be able to listen in on her conversation, as she opened her Z-Powder to greet the smiling face of Scar staring back at her.

"Ah, Christine! How are you?" he began. "Say, why is it so dark where you are now? That isn't good for your complexion, you know! You have to make sure to get plenty of sun, especially since you're entering the Miss Mali-U competition! You have to have flawless skin if you want a chance at..."

"Alright, enough already!" Chris replied, cutting her leader off. "And I thought I told you to stop referring to me by my first name."

"Ah, yes. Of course. Anyway, I apologize for removing you from your stimulating lecture, but there is an assignment I need you to undertake post haste. I think you'll find it quite...ironic that it has something to do with the upcoming Miss Mali-U contest."

"I don't see why SOAP would care about some dumb pageant."

"You mean the 'dumb pageant' you entered the other day?"

Chris' face reddened. "S-Shut it, you! Just get to the point."

"Gladly. The reason the competition is of interest to us is because the woman heading it, a Miss Kyla Sacks, is in the possession of something..."

"...that you want me to steal, right?"

Scar nodded and smiled. "You know me well, Agent C."  
"Alright, that explains that, but not why this Kyla Sacks would have something you place so much value in. Who is this woman? I thought she was just heading the competition."

"According to our records, Kyla Sacks was a supermodel that disappeared suddenly a month or two ago. For whatever reason, she's now reappeared and is the individual who created and is running the Miss Mali-U contest. That's all we have on her at the moment. Anyway, I know it's moot to say so now, but I want you to enter the pageant, get as close to Kyla as possible, and find out what invention she currently has. Afterward, retrieve it."

"Understood. It shouldn't be too much of a problem. After all, she's just some silly supermodel."

_Though taking down Mandy would have been reason enough for me to enter the pageant..._

"Did you say something, Agent?" asked Scar.

"N-No. Nothing at all."

"...I see. Now then, you're going to need some new gadgets for this latest mission. I've already had them sent to your dorm, but I'll explain them to you from here. Let's see now...where did I put those gadgets?"

Chris, sighing, watched as Scar searched his desk clean prior to stumbling across a black bag filled with the aforementioned gadgets.

"You wouldn't have to do all that if you actually cleaned your desk once in awhile. I found a decade old cup of pudding in there one time," said Chris.

"...Y-Yes, I believe you're right. Anyway..." Reaching into the bag, Scar pulled out what resembled a harmless tube of unmarked toothpaste. "Don't give me that look, Agent C. Though this may appear to be nothing more than ordinary toothpaste, this is actually a gadget called the Cinnamon C4 Toothpaste. While you **can** use it to ensure good dental hygiene, what it really is a high tech explosive that works wonders on anything you stick it against."

"...I don't even like cinnamon flavored stuff. Why does it have to look like something as asinine as toothpaste anyway?"

"Did you forget already? All your gadgets are going to have to look like common, everyday items because we don't want your cover to be blown in case someone stumbles upon them."

"That I get. What I don't get is why you would make a gadget look like toothpaste."

"...Moving on then." Next, Scar whipped out a shimmering pearl necklace. "This item here, and I don't want to hear any lip out you about it right now, is the Fall For Me Necklace. Upon detaching the beads, they grow and will trip up any unsuspecting foe."

"Well, at least this one isn't as silly. It could certainly come in handy."

Scar frowned. "...And for your final gadget, we have the Jetline Boots. These shoes are rocket powered and will allow you to whisk around at your leisure. Careful you don't crash into anything while using them though. I'm certain an agent as fine as you will have no problems using them, but I must inform you that a number of SOAP's other operatives have gotten into some nasty accident."

"Now that's a gadget I can use. Thanks again, Scar, and I'll be careful."

"Not a problem, agent. Now then, you better get back to class. I wouldn't want you to miss seeing your new instructor in action. Good luck in the competition as well! I will be rooting for you!"

Chris hung up and closed her Z-Powder, relieved to hear that Scar actually had something for her to do at Malibu University. She had beginning to think her staying there had been a cruel joke on his part.

"I guess I'll have to keep an eye on this Kyla Sacks woman. I wonder, where can I find her? She shouldn't be too hard to locate, considering she's heading the Miss Mali-U competition..."

"H-Hey! What are **you** doing inside **my** locker!"

Light entered the confines of the locker just then and a glowering Mandy leered down at an unsuspecting Chris. Quickly, Chris jumped out of the locker, partly because she looked silly inside of it, but mostly because she couldn't stand the thought of occupying the same space as Mandy's possessions any longer.

"Er...I was just..."

"Aha! I **know** what you were trying to do! You were prying through my locker to learn all my secrets for the Miss Mali-U competition!" Mandy proclaimed. "Ha! Like I would be stupid enough to leave anything like that here! I always leave all of my secrets with Trent!"

Mandy quickly covered her mouth upon realizing what she had revealed, though Chris couldn't have cared less about what it was she was planning for the pageant.

"I-I just got lost is all. Sorry," she told Mandy before running away.

"H-Hey! Wait a second! Get back here, you loser! Y-You better not have stolen anything out of my locker!"

Mandy let out a sharp exhale and furrowed her eyebrows before stomping off.

* * *

The end of the school day had arrived and as agreed upon earlier, Chris made her way over to the Mali-U Cafe to join Sam, Alex, and Clover for a drink and a bit of strategic planning.

"We have to prepare for battle!" Clover exclaimed as she slammed her hand down on the table everyone was sitting around. "No time to just sit around drinking coffee right now! Everyone, focus!"

"...What in the world are you talking about?" asked Chris.

"You know what I'm talking about! I'm talking about the Miss Mali-U competition!"

A bead of sweat rolled down everyone's heads.

"I figured that was the case," Sam stated. "Still, is it really that serious?"

"Of course it's **that **serious! This is probably the most important undertaking of our young lives! Think of the publicity we could build by winning this thing! Think of all the cute guys that will want to go out with us after this is all said and done!"

"You keep saying 'we', but you do realize only one person can with the contest, right?" said Chris plainly.

"Would you guys just let me finish what I have to say?!" Clover screamed. Everyone did. "Now then, if we're going to crush Mandy and every other girl at the going after Miss Mali-U, we're going to need to make sure we have the best outfits, the best makeup, and the most talent! Of course, all three of those things already apply to me, so there's nothing **I** really need to do!"

As Sam and Alex shook their heads in disgust, Chris couldn't help but note how much Clover was sounding like Mandy. It appeared those two had more in common than either one of them would want to admit.

"Well, at least you have the right attitude about this whole thing," said Chris. "I really don't know how one could get so worked up over something like this, but I suppose I'm in agreement with you, Clover. Let's crush the competition!"

"W-Whoa," said Alex slowly. "I kinda figured you were into this kinda stuff, Chris."

"I'm not really. I'm only doing it because I need to steal..." Chris hastily bit her tongue and tried thinking up something to say to divert the suspicious glances coming her way from the other girls. "Er...what I **meant** to say was that I'm only entering the pageant because someone is counting on me to...um...win."

_That was too close..._

"Ah, I see," replied Sam, although her wary expression did not fade away.

"Okay! We gotta read all these over!" Clover slammed a gigantic pile of fashion magazines onto the table, actually causing the structure to shake a little. "I gathered up every fashion catalog I own, so we should be able to find the perfect outfits to wear for the contest in them!"

"Y-You can't be serious, Clover! There has to be hundreds of these!" stated Sam.

"It would take us all day to read them..." said Chris. "And all night."

"I-I wouldn't have bothered calling off work if I knew we were going to be doing something like this!" exclaimed Alex. "H-How many subscriptions do you own?!"

"Eh, I lost count a while ago," Clover replied nonchalantly. "Come on now, girls! Quit complaining! If reading all these magazines is what it's going to take to beat Mandy and win that competition, then I think it's worth the pain, suffering, and paper cuts!"

All of that might have been fine for Clover, yet Sam and Alex debated if they should have been reminding her that neither of them were in the contest to begin with.

"What's going on over there?" said Chris.

Everyone peered to where she was pointing to see a large crowd gathering at a specific table. For a moment, Chris assumed it must have been Mandy showing off her outfit again, but she could tell that wasn't the case because she couldn't hear the girl hollering for Trent or complaining about something idiotic.

"I don't like the look of that. Maybe we should see what's going on," said Sam.

Clover and Alex agreed and the two, along with Sam, arose from their seats. Chris followed behind soon afterward, thinking that the trio were better off keeping their noses out of other people's business. Blushing, she supposed she wasn't one to talk, considering she too wanted to get a glimpse at what was occurring.

The four arrived on the scene and all of them instantly cringed at the girl sobbing at the table. That was because her overall appearance was quite shocking to them, with her possessing unkempt hair, thick braces, and a pair of circular glasses on her face. Dramatically, the girl continued to cry, perhaps hoping to draw as many people to her as possible.

"Don't look at me!" she stated between melancholy pants. "I'm hideous! I'm a **freak**!"

The girl then charged through everyone and toward the café's exit in a just as melodramatic manner.

"W-What just happened?" asked Sam.

"And if that girl was just going to leave to begin with, why in the world did she bother showing up here so everyone could see her?" added Chris.

"T-That was Cassidy Jenkins!" Clover exclaimed.

"Oh no! Not Cassidy Jenkins!" replied Alex. "...Wait, who's Cassidy Jenkins?"

"She's only one of the most popular girls on campus! She's won a ton of beauty contests around the state of California and she was the favorite to win the Miss Mali-U pageant this year!"

"You could have fooled me. What happened to her?" said Sam.

"I don't know! She looks like a total geek now!"

"Hey, she might not win Miss Mali-U now, but she's a shoe in if the school ever throws a spelling bee!" joked Alex.

"I doubt that's a new fashion fad she's into. Something must have happened to her," said Chris.

"Hey, that's less competition for us, right, Chris?" said Clover without a shred of remorse in her voice. She received a volley of glares from her friends as a result. "W-What?! It's true!"

Shifting away from the conversation, Chris spotted something glinting on the ground. When she reached down to pick it up, she saw that it was some kind of hair clip with a butterfly insignia.

_Wait a minute. This was in __that__ Cassidy girl's hair. __I'm sure of it.__She must have dropped it when she ran out of here..._

"What's that you have there, Chris?" Sam bent down to Chris and glanced at the hair clip in her possession. "You really are getting into the pageant spirit! Now you're trying on hair accessories?"

Chris shook her head. "No. I was just picking this up off the ground is all."

"Talk about tacky!" Clover snatched it out of Chris' hand and held it up, gagging at the sight of it. "These sort of things went out of style years ago! Just throw it away! We have more important things to worry about at the moment, like not being late for the tanning salon appointment I set for us, Chris!"

"T-Tanning salon appointment?"

"That's right! Our skin has to be flawless if we're going to win that competition!"

Chris groaned, more at the fact that Clover's words just now were the exact same ones Scar had given her earlier.

_I don't care what Clover says. I'm __going to__ hold onto this barrette and see if Scar can analyze it for any clues. Meanwhile, I guess I'm...getting a tan._

* * *

The local tanning salon near Malibu University was quite an interesting place in Chris' opinion. She had never been to a locale like it in her life and she passably found herself marveled at the hoards of attractive people that flocked to the place to put their skin under a lamp and cause irreparable damage to it.

_Why am I here again? The things I do for SOAP..._

"Don't look so down!" said Clover enthusiastically, jabbing Chris in the shoulder as she spoke. "We're gonna look great after we come out of here and then we're going to pound Mandy's pasty face into the ground!"

"T-That's all good and all, but...I seriously think you're forgetting something, Clover."

"Hmm? What's that?"

"Like I said earlier, only one of us can win the pageant. I know you just want to embarrass Mandy, but wouldn't you also like to win too?"

"Well, yeah, of course I wanna win!" Clover replied. "But that doesn't mean we can't socialize anymore! I mean, it's not like we aren't going to be friends after this, right?"

"I-I...suppose you're right..."

Despite her response, Chris wasn't really sure at all what the correct answer was.

_...__Where does she get off calling us friends? I'm just using her so I can complete my mission. That's right._

Chris and Clover went into different rooms of the tanning salon, where Chris was greeting by a buzzing tanning bed upon entry. Walking up to it, she leered at it curiously, unsure of how to actually use it. She figured she really didn't have to get in if no one was looking, though she changed her mind when imagining Mandy's cackling face holding up the first place trophy for the Miss Mali-U competition.

"...Like hell I'd let that happen," she muttered, as she prepared to step inside the tanning machine. However, her Z-Powder beeped in her pocket, so she pulled it out, opened it, and stated, "What is it now, Scar?"

"...Is a simple 'hello' so hard to say, Christine?" said Scar on the other end of the line.

"...Stop calling me that."

"By the way, what are you doing at a tanning booth?"

Chris blushed at this. "I-It's not what you think! I-I was dragged here against my will! I-I am not slacking off on my assignment, I promise!"

"No need to explain, Agent C. I can clearly see that it's quite the opposite! You've gone to get a tan in preparation for the Miss Mali-U pageant, right? It really warms my heart to see you so dedicated to your mission."

"...Alright. Sure. Why not?" Chris didn't bother trying to argue with him. "So, what is it this time? Did you finish analyzing that hair clip I sent you?"

"Yes, I did. It turns out it isn't as innocent as it looks. It's rather peculiar because it doesn't appear to be man made."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That hair clip contain traces of a certain DNA. Hmm, how should I put this?" Scar stroked his chin in deep thought. "It has...Nerd DNA."

"...Nerd DNA? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You know? Nerd? Geek? The kind of people all the football players and popular girls like to pick on at school?

"Oh, I see..." A light bulb went off in Chris' head suddenly. "W-Wait a minute! That Cassidy Jenkins girl! She was the one who was wearing that hair clip and she looked exactly like a geek! So, there **is** something strange about her new appearance."

"Are you saying she didn't look like a nerd before?"

"No. She was supposed to be one of the forerunners to win Miss Mali-U."

"I see. Well then, agent, something tells me this Cassidy girl and your mission have a lot to do with one another. I would keep my guard up if I were you. Something about this whole mess smells fishy to me."

Chris and Scar ended their communication with one another, just as a very loud scream was emitted from the opposite room. Straightaway, Chris acknowledged it as Clover's and it was clear Scar's warning was to be taken seriously. She rushed across the hall and slammed open the door, she under the impression that her friend was currently under attack.

"Clover, are you...?!"

However, Clover was just fine. In fact, there was no one else in the room other than her. It took a few seconds for Chris to even understand why the girl had shouted in the first place.

"What happened to...your...face?" she said slowly. "I know you said we would look...'different' after we tanned, but I wasn't quite expecting...**this**."

Clover squealed at these words and blocked her features away from sight. They remained visible though and Chris could see that her face was now littered with acne. A large retainer was attached to her mouth, muffling her speech a bit, and her once styled hair was now a puffy mess of bangs.

"D-Do I really look that bad?" Clover asked. Chris handed her a mirror and her high pitched scream of revulsion cracked it. "W-What the heck?! I-I look like something that crawled out of the Mali-U library!"

"Um...it's really not that bad," Chris lied.

Clover wasn't listening. "I'm totally going to need about fifty trips to the hair stylist just to get my hair to resemble something halfway decent!"

The weight under her legs gave way and Clover collapsed to the ground, totally discontented. Although this turn of event was an advantage to Chris and her efforts to win Miss Mali-U, she for sure didn't feel elated to see her friend in such a state.

"Er...i-it's going to be okay, Clover. Seriously, you'll be fine. Tell me though, how did this happen?"

"That's a...good question. I don't really remember. All I **can** recall is that I was minding my own business and about to hop into the tanning booth to catch some rays when there was this bright, pink flash all of a sudden! The next thing I know, I'm looking like the Bride of Frankenerd!"

"...Something tells me whatever happened to you also happened to Cassidy Jenkins. I'd also surmise that someone's trying to take everyone out of the Miss Mali-U contest by turning them into nerds somehow."

"Well, hopefully the effect isn't permanent! I can't be seen in public like this! I can't be seen again ever!" yelled Clover. She then gasped, adding, "W-Wait! I-I can't enter the competition looking like this! Chris, you're going to have to enter and win it for the both of us!"

"I-I don't really like the sound of that..."

"Trust me! You'll be fine!" Clover smiled at Chris, nearly blinding her with her braces in the process. "Now that me and Cassidy Jenkins are out of the contest, you're our only hope of stopping Mandy from winning it all!"

Chris remained apprehensive about the whole thing, yet she felt it was out of her hands. The last thing she wished to have to deal with was a victorious Mandy gloating all around campus.

"O-Okay, I got it! I won't let you down, Clover!" she said with enthusiasm, so much so that she surprised herself. "B-But you're going to have to help me out, alright? Like I said previously, I'm clueless when it comes to thinks like fashion and the latest trends."

"You got it!" replied Clover. She then sighed and slipped a paper bag over her face. Curiously, it already had two eye holes cut out in it for her to see. "Let's get out of here. I need to hit up The Groove and buy a **ton** of facial cream right now. I look like a giant pizza..."

* * *

The days leading up to the Miss Mali-U contest passed by with Clover, along with an unwilling Sam and Alex, trying her best to prepare Chris for the competition. The task had seemed simple at first, but as Clover soon discovered, Chris' ignorance to the world of fashion was far worse than she could have ever imagined. From scratch, Clover and the gang had to instruct Chris on how to stand like a proper lady, how to walk across a stage in high heels, and even how to tell which earrings to wear with what dress. Despite their diligent efforts, the information was having a hard time sticking in Chris' brain because of her relative inexperience in being a normal girl. Clover had assured her that she would be fine in time for the pageant, though her enthusiasm seemed to lessen day by day.

Finally, the day of the contest arrived. It was a day Chris had been dreading, yet one she knew she couldn't avoid. As she headed in the direction of Malibu University's auditorium, she tripped in the red pumps she had been running in and landed face first into the pavement. Things were already going rather sour for her, it appeared.

"D-Dammit! How can anyone get around in a outfit like this?!" she exclaimed as she rubbed her aching head. The glittering, crimson dress she was wearing might have looked nice, yet it was a pain for her to move in. "I-I look so silly..."

"I think you look great, although I don't think it's time for you to be 'falling on the job' just yet."

A hand extended its way toward Chris and she grabbed it before being pulled to her feet. She was then greeted by the smiling face of Sam. Behind her were Alex and Clover, the latter still wearing a paper bag to conceal her face. Though somewhat annoyed by their arrival, another part of Chris was greatly relieved to see them, as their presence settled the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.

"Yeah, we can't have you quitting on us just yet!" said Alex. "The competition is about to start at any minute!"

"...I understand the circumstances. It's just that it's rather awkward to get around in this silly dress. Clover, are you sure I have to wear it? And I really don't like this red lipstick you put on me. It feels weird. And these crimson earrings hurt too. I-I can't believe you made me get my ears pierced just for this asinine contest."

"W-What are you complaining about?!" Clover snapped, causing Chris to jump. "At least you don't look like a total nerd right now! A-Anyway, you look great, seriously! You're going to do fine. Just...er...try not to walk so fast. We don't have any more bandages, so if you mess up your nose again falling, you're on your own!"

Chris groaned at this. "That makes me feel a heck of a lot better..."

"Are you going to take that ridiculous bag off before we head in, Clover?" Sam asked with her arms crossed. "It's gonna be weird sitting next to you looking like that."

"No way! I look **way** more ridiculous with it off! It's not going anywhere until I look normal again, so you're just going to have to deal, Sammy!"

The prospect was the last thing Sam desired and she frowned as such.

"Wow, you picked out a really good dress, Clover!" said Alex while she inspected Chris from head to toe.

"Hahahaha! But not nearly as good as **my** dress!"

No one wanted to, but they eventually turned around to see Mandy in a puffy, purple, and flowery dress. Her hair was did up in an elaborate manner, so much so that Chris wondered how she was able to keep her head up from the weight of it. As much as Chris hated to admit it, Mandy looked great, meaning she really was going to be an obstacle in the contest.

"Trent, don't ruin this dress, you hear me?!" she snapped to her intern. He was holding up the back of her dress so she could walk properly. "This dress costs more than your entire salary for the year!"

"B-But, you don't pay me, Mandy. I'm an intern."

"Exactly, so don't mess it up!"

Trent sighed.

Mandy caught a glimpse of Clover and said, "Oh, hi, Clover! You know, for the first time in your life, you actually look good! Hahahaha!"

"Tch! Leave us alone for once, Mandy!" Clover yelled back. "You should be getting ready to get your butt handed to you by Chris here, rather than wasting time talking to us!"

"Hmm? You think **she's** going to beat **me**? That's really funny!"

"The only thing funny around here is the fact that you look more like a giant lilac than a beauty contestant!"

Everyone, save Mandy, got a good laugh out of Clover's jib. After hitting Trent for having the audacity to find humor in the remark too, Mandy glared at Clover irately.

"W-Why you...! J-Just know that I'm gonna beat your little friend over there, no questions about it! After all, I **am** the prettiest girl on campus and besides, it's not like there's any **real** competition for me to face today after what's happened to most of the contestants! Later, losers!"

With that, Mandy and Trent disappeared inside the auditorium.

"What did she mean by her last remark?" asked Chris.

Alex answered, "She's talking about the fact that whatever happened to Clover has happened to a lot of the girls that were going to enter the pageant today. Over half the contestants have had to drop out already! Y-You don't think Mandy has something to do it with it, do you?"

"I'd bet half the designer blouses in my collection that that evil witch does!" said Clover, fuming underneath her bag. "It's too cruel that out of everyone that got nerdified, Mandy of all people was spared!"

"It **is** far too convenient to be a coincidence," stated Sam, stroking her chin. "Then again, I doubt Mandy is behind all this. I mean, she'd do it if she could, but she isn't smart enough to come up with a plan like this. Still, it sure does seem like one of the competitors has something to do with this."

"Argh! Just give me five minutes with whoever did this and I'll make them regret their decision!" Clover declared. "This retainer is seriously driving me crazy! Not to mention the fact it's ruining my flawless teeth!"

"Uh...Clover? I think the point of a retainer is to keep all your teeth aligned."

"Whatever! The sooner it's gone, the better!"

The PA system came on abruptly and a person speaking over it informed everyone that the Miss Mali-U competition would be starting in approximately five minutes.

"Alright, that's our cue!" said Clover, as she began literally shoving Chris in the direction of the auditorium. "Time to break a leg!"

"H-How would breaking a leg help me win?" asked Chris. "I can barely walk in this stupid dress as it is!"

"I-It's just an expression! It means good luck! Seriously, have you been living in a cave for most of your life or something?!"

SOAP headquarters was certainly starting to feel like a cave in Chris' opinion.

* * *

Pushed through a pair of velvet curtains, Chris stumbled her way into what she figured was a dressing room. There were a number of girls powdering their faces, making sure their outfits were okay, and styling their hair even now, all appearing stressed and simply ready to get the entire competition over with. Chris certainly could relate.

"Sit down over here!" Clover barked, seating Chris in front of a mirror. "I need to make sure your makeup doesn't run while you're on stage! That would be the** worst **possible thing!"

"I-I'm pretty sure my makeup is fine, Clover!" Chris pleaded. She fidgeted around in her seat when Clover grabbed her and began roughly applying more makeup on her face. "S-Seriously! You're acting like one of those crazy mom's at a little girl's beauty pageant!"

Clover, not listening, muttered, "Hmm...you might need another hair band or two..."

Chris did her signature sigh at this and tried to bear the pain of a brush being roughly grazed against her hair. Her tear stained eyes moved over to another corner of the room, where Trent was running around trying to make sure Mandy looked her best.

"Trent, make sure my dress is secured properly! And I think you need to add another coat of nail polish to my fingernails! And don't you **dare** forget my French imported perfume! How can you feel good if you don't even smell good, right? Hahahaha!"

"Y-Yes...Mandy," Trent replied, out of breath from running around like a mad man.

The curtain at the entrance was drawn open and those present stopped what they were doing when someone stepped in. A dark skinned woman with black, lengthy, and curly hair smiled at everyone and her mere presence seemed to send everyone besides Chris into a hushed awe for some reason.

"Hello, my lovelies! It is a pleasure to mean you all!" the woman shouted in joy. "My, aren't you all looking just wonderful! You many know me already, but for those of you that don't, my name is Kyla Sacks!"

Chris watched the woman carefully, pleased to see that she had finally met the infamous Kyla Sacks. All the same, nothing about the woman stood out to her other than her beauty and she wasn't sure how someone like this could have an invention that SOAP took interest in.

"I just wanted to come back here and personally welcome you all the first ever Miss Mali-U beauty competition! While I have to thank all of your for entering, know that only the best, brightest, and most beautiful girl here will win! Nevertheless, I don't want to make you all nervous, so I'll just say this: just go out there and have fun! I know there's not a lot of you left due to some...'unfortunate circumstances', but as the saying goes, the show must go on! Shine brightly, my lovelies! I will be watching you with bated breath out there!"

"This lady sure likes to talk," Chris muttered.

Kyla flashed a pose ahead of winking, grinning some more, and then finally making her exit. The woman, while silly, really did seem completely harmless to Chris. Had SOAP screwed up with their intelligence on her?

A brush filled to the brim with power was swept against Chris' face and while coughing, she yelled, "I-I seriously think that's enough makeup, Clover?! Are you trying to make me look like a clown or something?!"

"It's never enough makeup!" Clover responded.

Chris sighed her oh so familiar sigh again.

* * *

Soon enough, the introductory phase of the competition got underway and those that entered gathered on stage. The crowd was larger than Chris had anticipated and gulping some, she simply hoped she didn't end up getting stage fright. Squinting, she could see Sam, Alex, and Clover waving at her from a row near the back. She waved back, although she did so sheepishly.

_Those idiots. They never cease to amaze me._

Her attention shifted to the trio of judges sitting at a table close by. Kyla was there, though that wasn't a shock to Chris. The woman sitting next to her, on the other hand, was, since it was Nurse Melody of all people.

_J-Just how much free time does that woman have on her hands?!_

The last judge was an unfamiliar face, yet at the same time it wasn't because the woman had an uncanny likeness to Mandy.

"Hi, Mom!"

From the stage, Mandy waved enthusiastically at the woman, who smiled and waved back.

"Y-You can't be serious! Her **mother** is one of the judges?!" Chris said in a much louder voice than she had meant to say her comment in. "Tch! I guess we won't have a completely impartial jury here..."

This newest revelation wasn't enough to deter Chris. She was going to win this contest no matter what it took.

* * *

The main portion of the pageant got started and as soon as it did, Chris quickly recalled the reasons she disliked these types of events. The first contest was a swimsuit one, where the contestants had to pose on stage for a short time in swim wear. When it came to Chris' turn, she appeared in a black one piece. Her outfit and posture was fine, but the fact she was unintentionally scowling the entire time was not, as she intimidated both the crowd and the judges. Mandy came out next in a purple two piece, wasting little time in soaking up the lime light by performing a variety of poses and expressions. Her act pleased the crowd and more importantly, the judges, who all gave her rather high scores Her mother in particular rather her the highest. Chris smacked her lips at this.

"This contest is totally rigged!" said a voice suddenly from the crowd that sounded an awful lot like Clover. "I'd give that phony girl in the two piece a negative one out of ten if I could!"

Growling at this, Mandy stormed off the stage in anger.

The next part of the pageant was the talent competition. The acts performed included one girl juggling some bowling pins, another eating fire, and even a girl showing everyone that she could hold her breath for two consecutive minutes without passing out. Nevertheless, she had to be carried off stage because she had gotten a bit dizzy.

The following act was Chris' and for a couple of moments, she did nothing but stand quietly, inducing a low murmur from the crowd. Then, she whipped out four plates and tossed them into the air before pulling out a handgun and expertly shooting them all.

"...Thank you," she said in a deadpan manner while the pieces rained down around her. She then walked away without another word, leaving the crown in a stunned silence.

"Well, that sure was...'interesting'," said Nurse Melody, who could think of nothing else to describe what she had just witnessed.

Mandy appeared on stage afterward dressed in a magician's outfit. Straining, she wheeled out a box that had her intern Trent inside of it. It was clear that she was going to try to saw him in half, but for whatever reason, the trick wasn't going as planned.

"W-What the...?! TRENT! What did you do wrong?! Why isn't it working?!"

"...Y-You've never even done this trick before, Mandy," groaned Trent. "I-I told you you should have practiced before coming out here!"

"Argh! You are totally ruining everything, Trent!"

"The only magic trick you should be doing is a disappearing act!" said a voice from the audience that again sounded Clover's.

The crowd erupted into full on laughter at the joke, as a red faced Mandy kicked the box holding Trent off stage. A loud crash was heard afterward and Mandy marched out of sight. Despite all this, the act somehow still managed to garner a nine out of Mandy's mother.

"A-Are you kidding me?!" said Chris, watching from the back. "I-I bet Mandy could literally just stand there on stage and breathe and her mother would still give her a perfect score!"

Following a frenzied series of events, including a pie eating contest, a bull riding contest, and a water balloon fight, the final part of the competition got underway. Chris, still soaking wet from having so many water balloons thrown at her, was just thankful that the only thing everyone had left to do was to go back on stage with Kyla Sacks and answer a couple of mundane questions.

"So, Mandy, could you please introduce yourself to the crowd and tell us a little about your aspirations for the future?" said Kyla.

Mandy, snatching the microphone away from her, stated, "I don't need to introduce myself because anyone who's anyone already knows who I am! As for my plans for the future, like, I'm going to be the world's most popular celebrity! Everyone's going to want to emulate me, like they should of course!"

Those in the crowd covered their ears when Mandy began laughing, sending a torrent of feedback into the mic in her grasp.

"Get off the stage!" said the same person that had spoke up twice already.

"C-Clover, would you be quiet!" said another individual that sounded like Sam. "You're embarrassing us back here!"

Mandy grit her teeth and said, "I-I know it's you back there that's been saying all those nasty things, Clover! Well, too bad for you, because it doesn't matter what you say! You aren't ruining my big moment!" She then parted her hair and smiled before turning back to Kyla. "The biggest stars always have their fair share of haters!"

"Er...t-thank you, Mandy, for those 'interesting' comments," said Kyla as Mandy went backstage. "Okay! It's now time to interview our final contestant."

Chris got her cue and appeared in front of everyone, with the crowd apparently worried she was going to start shoot things again.

"Alright, Christine, please tell the crowd about yourself!"

"...Fine. I am your normal, everyday college girl that who likes shopping, talking on the phone with boys, and..shopping."

The deadpan manner in which she delivered her speech was jarring enough that the audience once again descended into awkward muttering. That hadn't been the intended result Chris was looking for.

_C-Crap! This isn't good. Clover told me that crowd would love it if I said dumb stuff like that, so how come it isn't working?!_

"...A-Alrighty then!" said Kyla. "W-Well, what are you aspirations for the future?"

"I want to ensure that peace is cleansed from this world."

There was no mumbling this time around, but complete and utter silence.

"...T-Thank you, Christine! Y-You can go over with the other girls now," said Kyla, laughing anxiously. Chris did as told, while Kyla felt it was time to wrap things up before the contest got any stranger. "Before we crown the winner, I just want to..."

"Thank you! Thank you! I couldn't have done it without you all!" said Mandy out of the blue. She stepped forward and took a number of bows to the confusion of everyone watching her. "Aw, who am I kidding? Of course I could have! You don't need any help when you're perfect like me!"

"...I haven't announced a winner yet, Mandy."

"I was just trying to save you the trouble of having to read out some silly card! Everyone knows that I'm going to win this thing regardless, so we might as well get it over with!"

"...You know, it's words like those that are exactly the reason I despise stuck up beauty queens like yourself!"

The crowd gasped at the comment, but more specifically, the nastiness in Kyla's voice as she said it. Even Chris felt it was weird because in her opinion, it was the first time Kyla had sounded truly sincere.

"H-Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" said Mandy in anger.

"You heard me! Girls like you and everyone else that joined this competition are just stuck up beauty queens that only care about themselves! You all don't even deserve to win! Therefore, there is no winner! All of you lose!"

No one was really sure what was going on anymore. Whispering filled the seating section and it was quickly replaced with screams of terror when Kyla pulled out some sort of long, metallic rifle. Her countenance transformed into one of pure madness while she aimed the weapon toward Mandy.

"I think it's about time you learned a bit of humility, little girl!" she shouted.

Mandy shouted, as a pink ray shot out of the gun and hit her. She toppled to the floor and remained motionless for a number of moments.

"M-Mandy!" cried her mother alongside the numerous gasps in the audience.

"O-Ow! That really hurt! What's the big idea, lady?!" Mandy managed to sit herself up after a bit, though she noted something was off. "How come...my voice sounds so funny?"

Her mother ran on stage to check on her with a mirror in hand. Holding it up so Mandy could see her own reflection, the glass immediately broke at the cry of her daughter's screeching tone.

"W-What happened to me?! I-I look hideous! I-I almost look as bad as Clover!"

The multitude of freckles on her face wasn't doing her complexion any favor, yet worse perhaps was the braces now adorned to her teeth and the pair of glasses resting in front of her eyes.

"I-I've turned into a **nerd**!" she hollered, wanting to faint from shock. "H-How could this happen?! I-I can't be seen like this! Someone, do something!"

"D-Don't worry, hun! We'll go see my plastic surgeon and fix all of this!" her mother assured her.

The two rushed off the stage and Trent hastily followed after, screaming for Mandy to wait for him.

Kyla wasn't satisfied with just nerdifying Mandy and she turned her weapon on the rest of the contestants in the pageant. With a zap here and a zap there, more and more shrieking and flailing girls were being changed into geeks, much to Kyla's satisfaction.

"Hahahaha! Yes, this what all you deserve!" she howled.

She had been ready to turn another helpless contestant into a nerd when suddenly, Sam, Alex, and Clover landed on stage in front of her. Dressed in their WOOHP catsuits, they formed an imposing wall that Kyla was irritated she couldn't get past.

"Stop right there, lady!" said Sam.

"Yeah! Drop the gun before someone else gets stuck with braces!" added Alex.

Kyla laughed at their demands. "I'll do no such thing! If you girls are really going to stand in my way, I'll have to choice but to nerdify you as will with my trusty Nerdifier!"

"N-Nerdifier?! A-Are you saying that thing you have in your hands is what totally ruined my face?!" asked Clover from underneath her brown bag.

"Haha! That's right, my lovely!"

"Why are you doing this?!" said Sam. "What could you possibly have to gain by turning all these girls into geeks?!"

"Why, you ask? Well, it's really quite simple! You see, for as long as I could remember, I wanted to be a supermodel! I would see all the beautiful women walking down the catwalk and doing photo shoots and I was positive I could be just like them! However, everyone kept telling me I didn't have what it takes to survive in a model's world! I used to be a nerd too, you know, but I worked hard to cast aside that image and show everyone that I could do it, that I could become a successful model! No one cared though. No one cared about my dreams! I was cast aside, forgotten by the modeling world! I figured that if I couldn't be pretty, **no one** could be! That's why I started this contest! That's why I invited so many of Bevery Hills' finest to it! **Revenge**! All these dumb girls here will understand now how I felt when I was rejected! They'll never be admired for their beauty again! Hahahaha!"

"...That is by far the dumbest plan I have ever heard of." Everyone turned their heads to see Chris, who was leaning against a wall casually with her arms crossed. Opening her eyes, she glared at Kyla and added, "Instead of hatching this idiotic 'revenge plot', you would have been better served spending your time getting over your situation and finding a different career choice. Right now, you just sound like a spoiled brat that's upset she didn't get her way."

A vein on Kyla's forehead pulsated at what she was hearing. "Y-You're just like everyone that shunned me! I'll make you pay for those words, little girl!"

Kyla fired off a shot at Chris, but the latter managed to roll out of the way just in time.

"Chris?! What are you still doing here?!" asked Sam in surprise.

"You better get out of here while you still have your looks!" said Clover.

Nodding, Chris leaped off the stage and rushed behind a row of seats toward the back, just as the battle up ahead got underway once more.

"So, the Nerdifier was the invention Kyla had," she muttered as she used her Z-Powder to change into her black catsuit. Slipping on her ski mask, she said, "...SOAP probably doesn't have any use for such a thing, but I suppose my own opinion doesn't matter. Scar told me to bring back whatever it was that crazy Kyla Sacks lady had, so I won't fail in my mission. I'm just glad to be out of that stupid dress..."

After determining the timing was right, Chris jumped out of her hiding place and rushed at the stage with a full head of steam.

"H-Huh? Hey, it's that mean old SOAP spy again!" said a pointing Alex.

"What?! What's she doing here?!" cried Sam.

"I dunno, but I doubt she came just to watch the pageant!" added Clover.

"Whatever the case, we're going to have to stop her **and** Kyla Sacks over here!"

"Ha! It doesn't matter how many of you there are!" Kyla proclaimed. "You won't stop me! You **can't** stop me! My dreams won't be crushed so easily! In the end, I **will** exact my revenge against the world!"

"...Would you put a sock in it already, lady?" said Chris, still running. "If you planned your evil schemes as well as you ran your mouth, you might have actually gotten somewhere already."

"W-Why you...! I don't know who you are, but you're going to pay for that!"

Kyla fired off another round from the Nerdifier, setting her weapon on the highest setting before doing so. Because of this, the blast was much bigger than it had previously been and Chris only managed to turn her body and dodge it by the skin of her teeth. As the pink ray illuminated her clothing, she reached for the pearl necklace wrapped around her neck, tossing it on stage. The beads of the Fall For Me Necklace grew twice their normal size the moment they made contact with the ground, everyone unfortunate enough to be standing nearby were swept right off their feet by the beads. Chris used the opportunity to flip onto the stage and right in front of Kyla, who was sitting up and rubbing her head.

"O-Ow! What in the world just happened?!"

"...I wouldn't worry about that. In fact, if I were you, I would be more worried about myself at the moment."

Kyla slowly leered up, gulping at the sight of Chris looming above her. "W-Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"

"Simple. Give me the Nerdifier and you don't get hurt. Seems fair, right?"

"Tsk! The Nerdifier is my life's work! There's no way I would ever hand it over to you!"

"...Wrong choice, lady. Now, we do this the hard way."

Cracking her knuckles, Chris shot a devilish grin at Kyla, one that made the former model scream in absolute terror. Luckily for Kyla though, Chris never got the chance to strike because her legs were abruptly glued to the floor by some kind of strange adhesive.

"W-What the...?! W-What is this stuff?!"

"It's 24 Hour Extra Power All Day Adhesive Hair Pomade," said Sam. She walked up to Chris while tossing a bottle of hair spray up and down. "Like the name suggests, you aren't going anywhere for awhile, SOAP spy!"

"What a...stupid name for a gadget."

The name might have been ridiculous, but Chris had to admit the gadget certainly was effective. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free from the adhesive. That was the least of her troubles however, as she found herself surrounded on each side by one of the three WOOHP agents that always seemed to get in her way.

"Looks like you've sure landed yourself in a 'sticky situation!'" taunted Alex.

"Luckily for you though, we don't have time to mess around with you!" said Clover. "We've got a psycho ex model to take down right!"

"That's right, so do us a favor and sit tight, okay?" Sam added. "We'll be sure to drag you back to WOOHP headquarters as soon as all this is over!"

It wasn't as if Chris had much of a choice but to remain where she was. Considering her legs were the equivalent of concrete at the moment, she was not only powerless to fight back, but incapable of stopping the three spies from going after Kyla again. Gritting her teeth at the sight of them moving away from her, anger began to replace her usual collected demeanor.

_Are they...seriously just going to ignore me like this?!_

Kyla appeared to be ready for another fight, as she aimed her Nerdifier at the WOOHP spies and pulled back on the trigger. Sam, Alex, and Clover managed to jump out of the way and diving downward, each one of them landed a heel straight into Kyla's chest, sending her flying backward. Hitting the ground with a thud, she let out a groan before slipping into unconsciousness.

"Well, that was easy enough!" Alex, leaning down near Kyla, waved her hand back and forth in front of the woman's face to confirm that she was indeed out for the count. "She sure was one messed up lady though."

"You can say that again. It's too bad she had to ruin her career by turning into such a nasty person! Can you believe she was seriously trying to turn every pretty girl out there in a geek with that Nerdifier of her's?" said Sam.

"Hello?! Who cares about all that?! I think there's something important you two have forgotten about!" Clover removed the bag from her head and in response, both Sam and Alex cringed.

"I-It's not that I'd forgotten. I was just trying to block out the memory," said Alex.

Sam added, "Um...I-I'm sure there's some way to reverse what's happened to you. Hang on a sec."

The Nerdifier was nearby and Sam picked it up out of Kyla's grasp. She then inspected the device, turning a dial on before shooting it straight at an unsuspecting Clover. There was a bright, pink flash for a moment and when it faded away, Clover pulled out her X-Powder to check her own reflection.

Squealing in delight, she patted her now normal hair and exclaimed, "Alright, I'm totally back to my non geeky self! Thanks, Sammy! For a second there, I was getting the strangest urge to solve a couple of trigonometry problems!"

An explosion went off from behind the trio just then and for some reason, the scent of cinnamon was mixed in with the cloud of smoke that swept past them. As they let out a scream of shock and fright, Sam was hit with a surprise attack, knocking the Nerdifier out of her hands in the process. Quick to react, both Clover and Alex tried jumping in the air after it. However, someone else flew past and snatched it up hastily.

"I'll be taking that, thank you," declared a smirking Chris. She was hovering above the dumbfounded spies with the help of the Jetline Boots Scar had given her. "You know, you three aren't very bright. You really should have finished me off when you had the chance. I figured you would have learned that lesson from our last encounter, but I guess I was wrong."

"Whoa! Those are some really cool shoes she has on!" said Alex, who's eyes were glittering in amazement.

"You can say that again!" replied Clover. "I wonder if there's a pair of those in my size!"

"W-Would you get serious, girls?!" Sam hollered. "In case you haven't realized, she's still the enemy and she's about to get away with the Nerdifier! We have to stop her!"

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to slow me down this time, WOOHP spies! The Nerdifier is coming with me, but as a consolation prize, you can have Miss Kyla Sacks over there. I'm sure she would enjoy your company."

Chris retrieved a detonator from her person. Pressing down on it caused the explosives she had carefully set up around the stage long before the start of the Miss Mali-U competition to all go off at once. Sam, Alex, and Clover were thrust from the vicinity by the resulting shock wave, while Chris used the chaos to make her escape. She flew upward with her Jetline Boots, slamming right through the ceiling of the Mali-U auditorium. Soon enough, she was outside and home free. Her gaze moved from the Nerdifier in hand to the now empty tube of Cinnamon C4 Toothpaste in the other.

_Well, what do you know? This stupid thing came in handy after all. __I'm going to have to ask for some more for my later missions.__Now __then,__ all I got to do is get this Nerdifier back to Scar and head back to my dorm room before those WOOHP agents figure out __'Christine' __is__ missing._

* * *

Back in the auditorium, the fires from Chris' explosion were beginning to die down some. A pile of fallen rubble started to shake ahead of a tattered and bloody Sam bursting from within it suddenly. She let out a number of coughs, a result of the thick, black smoke everywhere, and turned her head to see Alex gradually climb her way out of some fallen over wood.

"Agh! I-I think I swallowed a nail!" Alex started, spitting out a glob of blood. "I knew the Miss Mali-U competition was going to get ugly, but I never imagined it would be **this** bad!"

Clover soon made her presence known, pushing a row of seating off of her. "Yeah, let's not do that again ever! I don't even wanna know how many nails I've broken..."

"I-Is everyone okay?" asked Sam, who was clearly still out of it.

"More or less," Clover replied. "But my outfit is totally ruined now!"

"I-I don't think that's what you should be worried about right now, Clover! In case you've forgotten, that SOAP agent got away with the Nerdifier!"

"O-Oh yeah..."

"I-It's not all bad, right? I mean, what's the worst that mean old spy could do with it?" said Alex.

Sam frowned. "I...suppose you've got a point, Alex."

The three shrieked when another portion of debris shifted around nearby. Kyla Sacks crawled her way out of it and toward the exit, noting that she couldn't let things end here.

"I-I can still do it! My plan can still work!" she muttered to herself. "I-I just have to start smaller is all! M-Maybe I could ruin one of those pageants where the mother's force their daughters to enter!"

Kyla stopped crawling when she took heed of the shadow of someone hovering above her. She looked up to see an elderly man dressed in a black suit staring down at her.

"I'm afraid you won't be ruining anymore pageants anytime soon, Kyla Sacks. That's because you're going to be locked away in the WOOHP containment facility for a very long time."

The man snapped his fingers and two similarly dressed men wearing sunglasses snatched Kyla up off the ground.

"H-Huh?! W-Wait, you can't do this to me!" she shouted, flailing her arms about as she did so. "I-I'm Kyla Sacks! I'm a **very** famous model, you know! Seriously, I don't look good in prison stripes!"

Her pleading did nothing to change her fate, since she was dragged out of the auditorium through the opening where the double doors used to be before being blown to smithereens.

"Excellent work, spies!" said Jerry Lewis, leader of the World Organization Of Human Protection. "You've managed to save the world from Kyla Sacks nefarious scheme."

Jerry then glanced around, jumping back at the sight of a large chunk of the ceiling slamming into the ground.

"...Although, you girls really didn't have to make a mess of the place in the process."

"It wasn't us that caused all this nasty chaos, Jer!" said Clover in defense.

"Yeah! I-It was that SOAP lady!" Alex stated, twiddling her fingers. "You know we haven't blown up anything in long time, Jerry!"

"Alex is right, Jer. That SOAP spy really did show up and worse of all, she managed to make off with the Nerdifier you were telling us about," explained Sam.

"Oh dear," replied Jerry.

"B-But it wasn't our fault!" Alex shouted suddenly. "Er...w-well, I guess we **did** kinda screw up, but it was because that lady was packing some serious gadgets!"

Clover added, "Come on, Jer! Can't you give us some better gadgets next time around so we don't totally get our butts kicked again?!"

"Actually, spies, I have been thinking over your little dilemma and I believe I have come up with an idea that will take care of your little 'SOAP problem' once and for all."

Sam, Alex, and Clover raised an eyebrow at what their boss was telling them.

END


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: First Crush Much?

"...It's been a whole week..."

Chris solemnly shuffled her way around the Malibu University campus, sighing as she peered at the blank screen of her Z-Powder. It had been exactly seven days, thirty two minutes, fifty one seconds since her last contact with her leader, Scar, and she would have been lying if she said she wasn't a bit uneasy. Getting in touch with him was no good either because the line was seemingly jammed. Therefore, she was trapped at Mali-U, stuck in some kind of limbo while she awaited her next orders.

"This...isn't good," she mumbled under her breath, as she sat herself down on a vacant bench. She put her head in her hands and sighed a second time. "I wonder if something happened back at SOAP HQ."

Worrying wasn't going to do her any good. Clutching the Physics book in her grasp, she felt she might as well pass the time by studying for her upcoming test if Scar had nothing for her to do. Still, she wasn't sure she could take another day of college life. Spending so much time amongst obnoxious kids her age was beginning to wear on her nerves. How anyone could do this on a daily basis was beyond her, but perhaps she only had such a mindset because she was so used to be a spy. If anything, that made her the strange one.

"Okay, what page was I on again?"

Her index finger danced against the pages of her book in an attempt to find the passage she last left off, yet it jumped when sudden yelling in the background scared her out of her seat. Chris quickly found the source of the disturbance when she sighted Mandy screaming at her intern Trent about something or another while they sat in her personal cart.

"Argh! It's really hot today, Trent! Can't you do something to cool me off?!" she whined.

Trent wasn't sure what else he could do. There were already a multitude of different sized fans blowing cool, refreshing air on her and not him. Shrugging, he pulled a pocket fan off his person and held it by Mandy, who let out an exhale of glee.

"That'll have to do for now!" she told him. "Now then, drive me to the library! I've got a big biology paper coming up and I need to see if I can get one of the losers there to write it for me! Ha, they'll probably do it if I say I'll let them touch me once!"

The two drove away and with Chris watching them, she was just glad Mandy wasn't bothering her for once.

"It really is hot though," she said, wiping some sweat from her forehead. There wasn't even a single cloud in the sky to block out the sun. "Maybe I should find some shade soon..."

"Hey, the only thing hot around here is you, baby!"

Chris was so focused on the weather than she hadn't even noticed someone standing in front of her until a couple seconds after the fact. It was a handsome boy bearing all his white teeth in a goofy grin and his mere presence was more baffling to Chris than it should have been.

"Can I...help you?" she asked.

"You sure can, gorgeous!" the boy replied. He took the liberty of having a seat next to Chris. He would have put his arm around her too, though the death glare she was giving him made him back off just enough. "Er...so, I haven't seen you around campus much, sweetheart!"

"I don't see how. I've been here at Mali-U for over a week now."

"I see, I see! Heh heh. So, whadya say we hit a movie right now, just the two of us?"

"I'm not really into cinema or the like. Besides, I'm not sure why you need me to accompany you. The theater on campus isn't even that far from here."

The boy scratched his head, having never before been spurned in such a fashion.

"H-Hey, I'm the Quarterback of the Mali-U football team! Here you are turning me down when there are plenty of girls that would kill for the chance at going out with me!" he said smugly, even pointing to himself while he spoke.

"Then go ask one of them," Chris replied nonchalantly. "Seriously, quit bothering me."

The boy, his jaw glued to the floor at this point, could think of no counter to this.

"H-Hey, l-look out!"

Someone, the same someone that had just shouted in fact, abruptly ran into the boy crashing and burning with Chris with the force of a bowling ball. Chris cringed at the sight of this.

_What the heck even just happened...?_

"O-Oopsie..." Alex, sitting on top of Mali-U's Quarterback, shook her head before looking down at the carnage she caused. "...That's going to leave a bruise for sure..."

"Do you always just slam head first into people to start your day?" asked Chris.

"N-No! N-Not everyday..." Alex replied, discomposed. "I-I was just in a hurry is all!"

"It's seems you're **always** in a hurry. Anyway, what are you wearing?"

Chris was referring to the blue tank top and shorts Alex was in. Alex glanced at it, puzzled someone would even have to ask such a thing.

"Huh? This is the Mali-U Track team uniform. You've never seen it before?"

Chris shook her head. "I don't even know what a 'Track team' is."

"You can't be serious! You have to come with me then!"

"H-Huh? Come with you where?"

Rather than responding, Alex proceeded to push Chris on ahead in a specific direction, all while telling her the thing she wanted to show her was something that needed to be seen with her own eyes. There was nothing Chris had going on anyway, so she didn't bother to resist.

* * *

The area Chris was brought to was a confusing, gigantic open space that she couldn't make sense of. The center of it was red concrete in the shape of an oval with numerous white lines circling around it. Rows of seating were nearby and she could see a number of girls seated there watching people run around the field. Everyone sprinting, stretching, and warming up were dressed similar to Alex and Chris came to the conclusion that this was the Mali-U Track team. This was the first time she had ever seen a track field and the more she stared at it, the more curious about it she became.

"What are those people running around the track for?" she asked.

"They're practicing for our upcoming meet with Valley Technical Institute!" Alex replied. "They're our bitter rivals and they always kick Mali-U's butt every time we compete!"

"I see. So basically, you and the other team race each other around that oval track up ahead and you you win by determining who's the faster runner? Interesting. It seems so simple, yet I imagine you must compete against one another fiercely."

"...I-I'm starting to think Clover was right about you living in a cave until now."

Chris ignored Alex's remark. "And you're apart of this team?"

"That's right! Hey, you should totally join! We could use another runner before the competition and besides, you haven't joined any of the other teams at the school, right?"

"No, I haven't. While I appreciate the offer, I think I'm going to have to decline. I simply don't have the time."

"Aw! That's a shame. I think you'd be a really good sprinter!"

"I think she'd be a pretty good runner too, Alex!"

The two girls turned around and Chris' heart skipped a beat at the sight of a boy with long, brown hair smiling at her. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and blood rushed to her face because of this, making it mirror a beet.

_W-What the heck is going on?! M-My heart won't stop beating!_

"Oh, hey, Dyson!" Alex said to the boy. "Chris, this is Dyson Glee. He's the Captain of the Track team!"

"Chris, huh? Pleasure to meet you!" Dyson replied, extending his hand. "I see Alex was trying to get you the join the team. Well, I one for think it's a great idea! You certainly have the legs for Track!"

The comment made Chris blush even harder. "T-Thank you."

"Is there anyway we could change your mind?"

"Well...I suppose I could...give it a shot..."

The words rolled off of Chris' tongue, yet she wasn't sure it was actually her that was talking. It was like she had only said what she figured Dyson wanted to hear.

"Great! Now then...what should we have you do?" Dyson scratched the stubble on his chin in deep thought. Eventually, he snapped his fingers and said, "I got it! Why don't you race Alex and I, you know, just to see how you fare?"

"Are you sure about that?" said Alex. "There's no way anyone could ever beat you, Dyson! You're one of the best runners in the state, after all!"

Dyson laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm alright at best. Besides, we're not gonna race to see who wins. Like I said, I just want to see how fast Chris is, though I'm sure she'll do fine. Is that okay with you, Chris?"

Unable to keep eye contact with Dyson anymore, Chris just nodded at the proposition.

* * *

With the entire track team watching on, Chris lined up next to Alex and Dyson on the track in the way they had instructed her. The spare track uniform she had borrowed from Alex was a bit itchy, though it was very light. She felt she would have no problems moving in it and understood now why it was the outfit of choice for runners around the world. She may have known next to nothing about track, but running was a totally different story. Being a spy for SOAP had its advantages and the intense conditioning she had to undertake to keep her job should have prepared her enough for something as simple as a run around a college track field.

"Are you three ready?" said another member of the track team who was holding a flag.

Chris, Alex, and Dyson all nodded and the boy lowered the flag, signaling for them to start. Almost immediately, Chris lunged from her staring position and took a sizable lead over her competition. Her form was near perfect and everyone looking on could hardly believe what they were seeing. Somehow, she was beating Dyson Glee, their team captain. Though he had stated that winning wasn't the goal, it was the sole thing Chris could think about as she ran. The feeling she got as the wind swept past her long, silver hair was indescribable. For the first time in a long time, she noted she was actually having fun. She was doing something so simple, yet the exhilaration she got from it was second to none. The cheering crowd was muted when she ran, as the sole thing she could hear was her heavy breathing and the sound of her heart thumping inside her chest.

The finish line was steadily growing closer and closer. A couple more steps and she would be the victor. That was what she presumed, yet the sight of Dyson glancing at her while he suddenly caught up to her shattered this perception. Where he had come from, she had no clue, but he didn't merely pass by. He opened up a gap that Chris wasn't sure she could close. Alex soon zoomed by as well and before Chris knew it, she was in third. The strength in her legs faded at the sight of this, only partially because of exhaustion. Even so, she wasn't willing to give up. She pushed herself to the limit, managing to catch up to the two in front of her as the three of them crossed the finish line. The winner was too close to call, as everyone muttering around them couldn't tell who broke through the tape first.

"I-I think I'm going to die..." Chris said in between sharp inhales. Sweat covered every inch of her person and she couldn't remember a time where she had been so tired in her entire life. "...H-How does Dyson and the other members of the Track team do this everyday?!"

The consensus from everyone watching on was that Dyson had won, with Alex coming in second, and Chris rounding third. A member of the team let Chris know this and she immediately frowned.

"Third? How is that possible?" said asked herself. "I lost to some...college student?"

Remaining in disbelief, she watched while Dyson was congratulated by his fellow athletes and noted that he didn't look the least bit winded. She could only imagine the kind of conditioning he undertook to stay in shape.

_This doesn't make sense. He __**can't**__ just be a normal college student!_

"Nice race, Chris! You're one heck of a runner!"

Dyson walked over to Chris holding a towel and taking it, Chris wiped herself off, using the towel to hide how red her features were. Being around Dyson made her uncomfortable, but not uncomfortable enough that she wanted him to go away. In fact, she wanted him closer if possible. It was a strange sensation, one she had never felt before and one she couldn't explain in the slightest.

"T-Thank you..." she said in response to his compliment.

"Seriously, you're fantastic! Everyone here thinks I wasn't trying, but I was really giving it my all and you still nearly beat me! If you're still interested in joining the Track team, we'd be more that welcome to have you! In fact, I'd say we **need** you!"

"O-Okay..."

"Great! With you on the team, there's no way we can lose to Valley Tech now!"

Dyson's excitement was washed away out of the blue when a phone in his pocket started to ring. The caller ID did little to make him feel better either.

"Er...w-would you excuse me? I gotta take this..."

He walked off and the second he did, Chris let out a sigh of relief. She was positive her heart would have burst forth from her chest if he had stayed a second longer.

"I don't get it. W-Why is my heart beating so fast?"

"Well, you did just run around the entire track at full speed a minute or two ago," replied Alex, who was drinking from a water bottle. "It's not surprising."

"No, t-that isn't it..."

But what it was, Chris had no clue.

* * *

"**Y-You** have a crush on a boy?!"

Everyone inside the Mali-U Café was startled by Clover's yelling, as she sat on the edge of her seat. The news she had seconds ago learned of was far too juicy for her **not** to shout in her opinion.

"...I have no clue what you're talking about," Chris answered. "I don't know what Alex is telling you, but it's not true. I don't have a crush or whatever on anyone."

"You don't have to play dumb with me! It's written all over your face!"

Chris groaned. "You just don't quit, do you?"

"So you're saying you **don't** like Dyson Glee then?" asked Sam, while she turned the pages of the book she was reading.

"Sure, I like Dyson. He seems like a decent guy and all."

"No, that's not what she meant! She's asking if you like **like** him!" stated Alex.

The remark just made Chris even more perplexed. "...Would you three just speak in English?"

Sam, Alex, and Clover shot Chris a look that told her how crazy they thought she was at the moment.

"Have you...seriously never fallen in love before?!" Clover inquired.

Growing both flustered and upset, Chris replied, "O-Of course not! I don't have time to entertain matters of the heart! There's no way I'm in love with Dyson Glee!"

The entire idea was laughable to her. She was a spy, a secret agent. With having to juggle missions and college life, she certainly hadn't the time for a boyfriend, even if she wanted one. She certainly didn't, however. Nodding at her own thoughts, she wished her friends would drop the entire subject.

"Jeez, it's not like you're a robot or something!" said Alex. "I saw the way you were looking at Dyson back on the track! So, when are you gonna make your move on him?!"

"...I give up," Chris muttered.

"Well, whatever the case, you've got good taste!" Clover said to Chris just then. "That Dyson Glee is a total hottie!"

"Not just that, but he's one of the best athletes in the country!" Sam added. She held up a sporting magazine and on the cover was a smiling Dyson. "He's even won a ton of competitions all over California! You sure know how to aim high, Chris."

It was as if Chris was speaking an entirely different language. No matter how much she denied having feelings for Dyson, Sam, Alex, and Clover were pretending they didn't hear her.

"Dyson really seemed to like you too, Chris," said Alex with a frown. "I've been trying to get his attention for awhile now and he already likes you better after one day! Totally not fair!"

"You three are absolutely insane." Chris rose from the table everyone was seated around, ready to leave in disgust at being teased so much. "I don't care about Dyson Glee or any boy for that matter! Now then, I don't want to hear anymore about the matter, alright?!"

"Alright, alright! Fine, we get it!" Clover replied. "By the way, you're blushing."

Chris quickly covered her face with a book upon seeing Clover was right.

Sam laughed. "I don't know why you're getting so bent out of shape over this whole thing! There's nothing wrong with having a crush."

"Yes there is. It's...weird," replied Chris.

Clover, patting her on the back, stated, "Well, at least this proves you're not some sort of alien! If you need any tips on how to flirt with boys, just come to me! You could say that I'm something of an expert on the subject!"

"Yeah, sure...thanks. I'll keep that in mind..."

Chris was thankful when her Z-Powder began to beep in her pocket. It gave her an excuse to get away from the WOOHP agents that were driving her insane right now. She lied and told the three that it was her father calling her ahead of finding a safe place to answer Scar's call.

"Ah, there you are, Christine," the leader of SOAP said. "It's been quite some time."

"You don't say. Where the hell have you been anyway? I've been trying to get in contact with you for over a week now! Oh, and don't call me by my first name! I'm getting real tired of having to repeat myself!"

"Oh, my apologizes. Also, my apologizes for our lack of communication for the past couple of days. Things here at SOAP HQ have just been a tad bit...**hectic**. I won't go into the details, but just know that everything's right as rain now."

"I guess that's...good to hear."

Scar was being quite cryptic about his strange absence, enough so to heighten Chris' suspicions. He was trying to hide something from her, but what?

"It looks like you've been doing well though, Agent C. My, aren't you radiating with enthusiasm? Is it perhaps because of a boy you fancy?"

Blood rushed to Chris' cheeks. "W-What are you talking about?! There is no boy!"

"Oh, I see. I guess I was mistaken then. Now then, the reason I called you was because I have a new mission for you."

"It's about time. What do you need me to steal this time?"

Scar raised one of his eyebrows. "What makes you think I want you to steal something?"

"I'm not positive, but I can't think of any other reason you'd have me stay at this school. Besides, being a thief is beginning to become my forte..."

"...Fair point, and an accurate one. I indeed need you to find a certain invention, retrieve it, and send it in to HQ. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the item other than its at Malibu University."

"Is that seriously all the intel you can give me?"

"Sadly, yes. It'll be up to you to not only figure out who is in possession of the invention, but you'll need to locate it's whereabouts as well. I'm certain this assignment won't be as difficult as it sounds."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one that's going to have to bust their butt finding it."

"Did you say something, Agent?"

Chris shook her head. "Nope. Can you at least give me some gadgets to help me out on this wild goose hunt?"

"I certainly can. Let's see here..." Scar reached his hand into a black bag, having had it ready at the start this time around, and pulled out a hair clip in the shape of a red ladybug. "Here we have the Ladybug Spy Clip. It has a small tracking device inside of it that links up with your Z-Powder. All you have to do is attach it to whoever or whatever you want and you'll be able to track it without fail. The range on it is quite good as well, so no need to worry about your target going somewhere you can't pick up the signal. Also, I think it'll look really nice on you, Agent C. **Especially** in front that special someone."

Scar laughed, though he stopped when Chris didn't join in, she not in the mood for his corny jokes. Clearing his throat, he decided to introduce the next item.

"This here..." he started, holding up a seemingly harmless container of white mints. "...is the Icy Fresh Freeze Bomb."

"Oh, it's actually a gadget? I thought it was another one of your lame jokes."

"Well, while it probably **is** a good idea to have your breath smelling nice for the boys, I swear to you that these mints will actually come in handy during your mission. By chewing one, you can expel an icy breath that freezes anything in your nearby vicinity. Then again, I wonder if you need such a thing, as your current temperament could probably freeze everything over just fine..."

"...What was that last thing you said, Scar?"

"Hmm? Oh, it was nothing, I assure you. Alright, I have one last item to show you. It's the Guardian Bracelet." Scar placed a pink bracelet with a heart shaped jewel in the center onto his arm and held it up so Chris could get a good look at it. "Basically, it creates an impenetrable barrier around you upon the press of a button. Nothing should be able to get past it, but unfortunately, it's still in the testing stages at this point. It **should** work just fine, but I would be careful while using it if I were you."

"Great. If my enemies don't kill me, that thing probably will. Oh well. Thanks anyway. Just do me a favor next time and try not to call me after a whole freaking week has passed, alright?"

"Of course. However, I can't keep any promises. You know how us boys are."

Another torrent of chuckles escaped Scar and Chris hastily slammed her Z-Powder shut so she wouldn't have to hear anymore.

"I'm not sure why I was so upset I didn't hear from him for so long anymore," she grumbled. "Why couldn't he give me a gadget that would actually help find the thing I'm supposed to be looking for?"

Chris shrugged. Like before, complaining wasn't going to help her situation any and her time was better spent searching for some type of clue. At least Scar sounded certain the invention was here at Mali-U, which made her search a heck of a lot easier. Still, the campus was vast enough that she determined it would take her a couple of days to comb it entirely.

"...Who's there?"

The sound of someone dragging their feet across the adjacent hallway alerted Chris and caused her to raise her guard. However, she saw that it was just a girl approaching her, a girl she recognized as being a member of the Mali-U Track team. For some reason, the girl looked positively exhausted. Chris wondered if it was simply because of the intense training the Track team had just gone through, yet something told her this wasn't the case. The bags under the girl's eyes and the way she hunched herself over were almost unnatural.

"H-Hey there," the girl said weakly. "Say, you're that...new girl on our team, right?"

"Y-Yes, I am. Say, are you alright? You don't look so good."

"Y-Yeah, I...think so. I'm just...really exhausted all of a sudden and my head's a little foggy. Can't...really remember what happened. Well, I think I'm gonna go lie down in my dorm and head to sleep. See you tomorrow at track practice?"

Chris nodded and the girl went on her way.

"...What was that all about?"

* * *

The next day had come and Chris had arrived for Track practice rather early. Of course, it wasn't by choice, since the team was required to meet earlier in the morning to train before classes started. This was something Chris had no tolerance for. She wasn't remotely a morning person and she couldn't help but yawn every couple of seconds.

"This is the pits," she mumbled, rubbing her reddened eyes. "Why did I agree to join this stupid team again?"

She began stretching her limbs, hoping it would wake her up. While she did so, she took a look around the field to find that there weren't nearly as many members of the Track team present today. Dyson was also absent and a small part of Chris found it pointless to show up for practice if he of all people wasn't going to be there.

"...Where the hell is he?"

"Hey! Are you looking for me, Chris?"

She swung around and instantly, her heart started to beat like a drum at the sight of Dyson. He smiled his usual smile and she quietly wished he would stop accidentally being so darn appealing to her.

"D-Dyson?! H-H-Hello! I-I was just...er..."

Talking in complete sentences was always a problem with her crush around. Rather than make a fool of herself any further, Chris broken eye contact with Dyson and tried to think of something to say that didn't sound like idiotic babbling.

"Thanks for showing up so early! I know it must have been a pain to get up when the Sun is barely even up, right?" said Dyson apologetically.

"N-No! It's was...no problem at all," Chris fibbed.

"That's good! We can't have you tired when we've got to give it our all training this morning! We've still got that big competition against Valley Tech coming up!"

"I-I remember. Say, Dyson, how come so many members of the team are missing this morning?"

"Er...I-I think they're all sick or something. Yeah, there's this bug going around campus and unfortunately, a lot of our guys were hit with it! That's why the rest of us that aren't sick have got to train twice as hard and pick up the slack! Understand?"

Chris nodded her head at this like an overexcited dog and braced herself for what was to come.

_I know this doesn't have anything to do with my mission, but I...really don't want to let Dyson down for so__m__e reason._

* * *

Dyson, Chris and the rest of the Mali-U Track team spent most of the morning training themselves to the limit. Chris was once again marveled by her comrades conditioning and it seemed everyone was giving it their all, not wanting to suffer another agonizing loss to Valley Tech. She couldn't see it happening, not with Dyson pushing them so hard. There were those there that wanted to give up, yet couldn't when seeing him in action. He really was a sight to behold and a natural born leader in Chris' opinion. He had to have been to inspire someone like her to wake up so early to sweat to death.

When everything was said and done, everyone, Chris included, was on the verge of throwing up from tiredness. It had been worth it though to most of them, since they felt like they could tackle anything now.

"Alright, I think we've done enough for today!" Dyson shouted at his team. "Why don't you all hit the showers? You all did great!"

"A-Are you serious, Dyson?! We can keep going!" said a member of the team.

Another added, "Yeah! We'll lose to Valley Tech again this year if we don't keep it up!"

"While I applaud your enthusiasm, guys, you really should save some of that energy for the competition on Saturday! We don't want to be completely gassed before it even starts, right?" said Dyson.

Though still wanting to train, most everyone present agreed with their leader's line of thinking and opted to rest up for the time being as instructed. Everyone dispersed away from the track, leaving just Dyson, Chris, and Alex remaining. This fact was one Alex didn't let slip past her.

"Er...t-there's something I forgot I need to do!" she declared. She then inched closer to Chris and in a whisper, she told her, "I'm going to leave you alone here with Dyson, so don't mess up this opportunity!"

"H-Huh? W-What do you mean?"

Alex dashed off giggling before Chris could get a straight answer out of her. Per her plan, this action forced Chris to stand in the same vicinity as Dyson without anyone to hide behind. Her heart immediately began to race and turning to the boy who made it do so, she noted that she couldn't even think of anything to talk about to break the awkward silence between them. Fortunately, she didn't have to because Dyson spoke up first.

"I hope I don't sound like a broken record, but you were really great out there today! You really are a natural when it comes to Track, Chris! It's just a shame I couldn't scout you for our team sooner!"

"T-Thank you..."

"Ha, there isn't much left I think I can show you! You should do fine come Saturday."

Chris nodded at his words, but her thoughts were more focused on her pondering if she should have been taking advantage of this perfect situation. Here she had Dyson all alone with no one to bother them. Only an idiot would pass up a chance like this in her opinion.

"S-Say...Dyson?"

"Yeah?"

"Er...um...I-I..."

She just couldn't do it. The words wanted to spring forth from her lips, yet couldn't. She let out a sigh at this and watched as things became quiet between she and Dyson again. Dyson, rubbing his nose, appeared worked up about something too.

"Say, Chris? Are you...doing anything tonight?"

"Huh? N-No. I'm not doing anything. Why do you ask?"

Dyson laughed. "Er...I'm really not good at this sort of thing, so I'll just come out and say it! You see, there's this sports movie playing tonight at the theater and I was wondering if you'd want to go see it with me!"

Chris paused ahead of replying, "...You mean...like on a date?"

"Um...y-yeah! A date! That's what I'm trying to say! So, do you wanna go?"

This was most definitely a first for Chris. Never did she imagine someone would be asking her on a date and as such, she had no idea what her answer should be. Common sense dictated she say yes, considering Dyson certainly wasn't an awful choice to go on a date with. Nevertheless, she wasn't sure she had the time. She was supposed to be on a mission for SOAP, after all, and she was certain Scar wouldn't approve of her using 'company time' on personal affairs.

"A-Alright," was the answer she eventually gave Dyson anyway. "I-I don't see the harm in it."

"Great!" Dyson shouted. "I'll pick you up at your dorm around 7 PM then, alright?"

An overjoyed Dyson sprinted off to prepare for their engagement, but he stopped, turned around, and waved one last time at Chris prior to finally departing. This left Chris all on her lonesome and she stood silently in the spot she was in, letting a gust of wind blow past her.

_...What the hell did I just agree to?_

* * *

There was a lot for Chris to think over as she sat on her bed inside her dorm. Was it merely a dream when Dyson had asked her to go out with him? She hoped not, lest the butterflies in her stomach be there for nothing. Getting ready for their rendezvous was one of the most stressful things she had ever done and she thought over what else she had left to do. She had already changed into a red dress, put on some red earrings, and done her best to apply some makeup to make herself look more appealing, but all this didn't feel enough.

"I wonder if Scar will get mad if I use the Ladybug Spy Clip like this," she muttered, fixing the object in question onto her hair. "Tch. He's the one always going on about how these gadgets would look nice on me."

Looking at a nearby clock, she saw that it was only 6:30 PM. Dyson wouldn't be there for another half an hour, a short window of time she could use to come up with a plan of action. The worse thing she could do in theory was to make a fool of herself in front of her crush, so she decided to go over every possible scenario where something could go wrong so she would have a countermeasure for it.

_I never thought thinking like a spy would come in handy on something like a date._

Loud banging at her door made Chris rise to answer it. She assumed Dyson must have arrived early, though she was disappointed to see that it was just Sam, Alex, and Clover standing in her doorway. With a sigh, she let the three in and checked both sides of the hallway outside prior to shutting the door behind them.

"What do you guys want?" she asked in exasperation.

"Don't give us that look! We stopped by because we heard you had a hot date tonight!" Clover explained. "Knowing you, we figured we'd better stop by and give you a few pointers!"

"...What's that 'knowing you' part supposed to mean?"

"Er...n-nothing! Nothing at all!" answered Sam. "A-Anyway, it looks like you might not need our help after all, Chris. You look great!"

"Thanks, I guess. I was hoping I didn't look like a clown with all this makeup on."

"Well, you **did** go a bit overboard on the eyeshadow," Clover admitted.

Chris glared at her. "...If this is all you three wanted, you can go now. I still have some things to do before I go, so..."

"W-Wait!" shouted Alex suddenly. "Y-You can't let Dyson come into your dorm!"

"Why not?"

"Just **look** at this place!"

Clothing, junk, and other odd knick knacks littered the floor of Chris' dorm to the point that no one could even see the carpeting. The mess was the reason Clover was standing on Chris' bed instead of having a seat like Sam and Alex.

"Yeah, I didn't want to be rude or anything, so I kept my mouth shut," Clover said. "I mean, it's bad enough your dorm's smaller than my shoe closet, but it's totally nast in here!"

"Seriously! Dyson's gonna freak if he sees this!" added Alex.

"Like you two have any right to criticize someone else's mess!" Sam barked. "You should see what state they leave the penthouse in everyday!"

Neither Clover or Alex could really argue with that.

"You girls really think Dyson going to care about how my room looks?" asked Chris with the slightest hint of fear in her voice.

"Totes!" responded Clover. "He's going to think you're a total slob!"

Now Chris was panicking. She frantically glanced all about her room and saw that there was no way she was going to get it straightened up in time, not by herself anyway.

"Y-You guys have to help me clean this place up before Dyson gets here!" she screamed. "NOW!"

"Jeez, bossy much?" replied Clover.

"I guess we've got no choice," said Sam. "Come on, girls! It's cleaning time!"

"A-Are you serious?! I don't even like cleaning my own room!" chimed Alex.

The four girls got to work and soon discovered that clearing everything out of the dorm in half an hour was a taller order than they thought. Sam already had a pile of clothes in her hands, yet dozens more remained on the ground. It was as if another took the place of one she picked up as she worked.

"H-Have you ever heard of a dresser, Chris?!" she cried. "W-Why do you have so many clothes anyway?! I mean, it's not as bad as Clover's closet, but..."

"That's a good question."

Chris knew the answer to it though. Scar had sent her hundreds of outfits awhile back, telling her that she needed a proper wardrobe if she was going to blend in at Mali-U. That was fine and all, though he had neglected to give her anything to put the stuff in and Chris figured her carpeting was as good a place as any.

"Hey, it's my trigonometry book," she stated, finding it underneath a mountain of skirts. "I thought I had lost it in class or something. Oh, and there's my history book over there. Huh, and this is a chair. I didn't even know I had this chair."

"Okay, this is just gross!" Alex was holding up a pair of black socks that smelled truly revolting. "I take it you haven't done your laundry in awhile, Chris..."

"It's hard to figure out what's clean and what's dirty in a mess like this is all."

"And what's with all these chip bags?" asked Sam. There were already hundreds of them before she realized that there were more bags inside of the bags, with more bags inside those. "I-Is this all you eat?"

Chris shrugged. "What's the big deal? They taste just fine to me and they're cheap."

"T-That's not the point I was trying to get across..."

The other girls leaped in fright when Clover screamed at the top of her lungs without warning. She then hopped onto a chair and hysterically pointed to a corner of the room.

"T-There's a **mouse** over there!"

Everyone quickly saw what she was talking about. A tiny, brown mouse had just finished eating the remains of what was left inside another chip bag of Chris'. It peered curiously at the girl aiming her finger at it, causing Clover's face to grow pale. Sam and Alex joined her on the chair, the three of the trembling in fright. Chris could hardly believe three agents of WOOHP were afraid of a little mouse. Walking over to it, she picked the creature up in her hands and held it out.

"Relax. This thing can't hurt you," she stated. "Look."

"T-That's what I'm trying **not** to do!" said Clover.

"A-Are you crazy or something, Chris?!" yelled Alex. "I-I can't believe you're even touching it right now! I mean, I love animals, but even I have my limits!"

"Y-Yeah, w-we get the point, Chris, now just get rid of it!" added Sam.

Chris shook her head, walked over to an open window, and let the confused mouse out into the open world. Her attention shifted to the state of her room, which was better than it had been previously, yet it remained nothing to be proud of. To make matters worse, someone was knocking at the door now and with her heart sinking, Chris just knew it was Dyson.

"C-Crap! W-What do I do?!" she asked her friends.

"Y-You better just go, but don't let him see inside of here!" Sam instructed. "We'll just get this place straighted out for you in the meantime!"

Alex nodded. "Have fun on your date!"

"You'll totally do fine!" Clover assured her. "Just...try not to talk much. You don't really have a way with words and like...you'll probably say something stupid."

"...As much as I want to get angry for you saying that, you're probably right. Thanks."

Chris thanked the three for their help and made her way outside. Dyson was indeed waiting for her there and she made sure to slam the door shut before he could get a peek inside. This action made him raise and eyebrow, though he didn't press the issue.

"H-Hello!" Chris said to him.

"Hi there! You all ready to go?" replied Dyson, smiling. "The movie starts in about fifteen minutes, so I guess we better hurry if we're going to get some good seats!"

"R-Right..."

"Say, are you alright? You look...funny right now."

"Funny? I have no clue what you mean."

"And I could have sworn I heard voices inside your dorm. Don't you live alone in there?"

"I-I do, yes. You must have been hearing things."

Clover screamed suddenly from within the dorm and shouted something about seeing another mouse. Chris palmed her hand on her face at this.

"It's just...the television," she lied.

Dyson nodded. "Oh, I see! Well, anyway, you look really good, Chris!"

Chris blushed at this. "Thank you. Y-You don't...look too bad yourself."

No one said anything for a couple of moments, the silence being broken by the two of them laughing at nothing in particular. Chris was relieved to see that Dyson was just as nervous as she was. It made having to be with him a whole lot easier.

"Well, I guess we better get going." said Dyson.

Chris, nodding, was ready to just get on with the whole thing. As she and Dyson departed, she looked back at her dorm and wondered if leaving Sam, Alex, and Clover alone in her place was a good idea after all.

_I just hope I didn't leave any clues about my real identity lying around with the res__t __of that junk..._

* * *

Side by side, Chris and Dyson walked around the outside of the Mali-U campus, just as the sun was setting in the sky. Neither of the two spoke much and Chris felt it was better that way, lest she put her foot in her mouth and say something stupid per Clover's warning. Just being around Dyson was good enough for her, although they would eventually have to start speaking to one another, especially if they ended up going on another date after this one.

_Another...date?_

The idea made Chris all flustered and she chuckled a few times at how silly it was.

"What's so funny?" Dyson asked.

"N-Nothing. Nothing at all. Sorry."

"Ha. It's cool. You're really weird though, Chris. I mean that in a good way though. You're not like any other girl I've met before."

Chris was still unsure if she should have taken that as an insult or a compliment.

"Er...sorry we have to walk to the theater," Dyson then said. He was struggling to come up with things to talk about. "My parents took my car away..."

Chris shook her head. "It's fine. I mean, the theater isn't even that far from here. I took you as the sort of person who just ran everywhere, Dyson."

"Haha. A lot of people think that too, but even I know my limits."

"Why did you parents take away your car?"

"Well..." The mere mention of his parents made a frown form on Dyson's face. "My folks are serious about my running career. **Really** serious. They have high hopes for me and while I can appreciate that, they tend to go overboard when I don't live up to those expectations. You see, I recently came in second in a big competition. The best runners in the state were going head to head, but I screwed up, in front of my parents no less. That's why they took my car away, but I'm guess I'm lucky that's **all** they did."

"I admit second isn't the optimal position, but it's not that bad, right?"

Dyson laughed again. "You don't now my parents then. Unless I'm basically the best runner in the world, they'll never be satisfied with my accomplishments..."

The bitterness in his voice as he spoke was unsettling to Chris. It was as if Dyson truly reviled his parents, yet didn't want to admit it. To himself or anyone for that matter.

"Are your parents like that with you, Chris?"

Hesitating, Chris wasn't sure if she should answer the inquisition or not.

"...I wouldn't know. They've been dead for most of my life," she finally replied.

"O-Oh! I-I'm sorry. I-I wouldn't have even asked if I had know..."

Chris shrugged. "Don't bother apologizing. There's no way you could have known."

As anticipated, things grew sour between the two thanks the topic at hand and Chris wondered why she had even revealed that shred of information to some boy. It was something she didn't tell anyone, so why Dyson then?

"Huh. I think I might have led us in the wrong direction!" he said abruptly.

Chris saw what he was talking about when she looked up, noting they were at the track she and the rest of the Mali-U Track team spent countless hours practicing at. It was empty now though and dark without the light of the Sun to illuminate it.

"M-My bad. I guess I was just enjoying our conversation so much, I wasn't paying attention to where we were going."

"It's fine," Chris replied.

Dyson took a couple steps forward toward the track, bending down to it and placing his fingers on the cold concrete. He then closed his eyes and let a calm gust of wind sweep past him. Something about the scene made Chris aware of the reality that Dyson always looked calmest when he was running on the track. It was where he belonged, where he was truly free. His parents kept him stuck in a cage, yet those bindings were powerless here. When Dyson was like this, Chris understood why she was so enamored by him.

"Say, Chris, do you like to run?"

"...What? What do you mean?"

The question shouldn't have taken her off guard so much. Why it did might have been because of the way Dyson had asked it. His voice sounded different, intimidating even. On the other hand, it strangely sounded natural, as if he had been straining himself to sound the cheerful, friendly person Chris had grown accustomed to.

"I'm just asking if you like to run. I'm certain that with your skills, you'd be able to win gold medals in the Olympics one day. You know, a lot of people would kill for natural talent like that. Hell, I wouldn't mind adding your abilities to my own arsenal. Can you imagine that? I'd be next to unstoppable then."

"...What is it that you're trying to say?"

The ground below Chris began to shake and all of a sudden, something burst up from it, knocking her off her feet. What she saw next, she wouldn't have believed if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. It was some sort of giant robot with a multitude of mechanical legs that resembled tentacles. There was a single gleaming eye on what she presumed was his head and below that was some sort of pod with a tinted window on the door. Because she was taking in the fact that this thing even existed, she wasn't able to act in time when it snatched her up with one of its many limbs.

"W-What the hell?! W-What is this thing?!"

"My apologizes, Chris." Dyson, smiling, looked up at the squirming Chris. Strangely, the robot wasn't attacking him and Chris had an idea why. "You see, I sort of...tricked you into coming here tonight. You see, I needed to capture you in order to steal your abilities. I had a hard time coming to this decision though. You see...I really do like you, but I refuse to take anymore crap from my parents or anyone else about my running!"

"Tch! I still don't get what you're talking about!"

"Fine then. Let me show you."

He snapped his fingers and the machine responded by tossing Chris inside of the pod on its body and slamming the door. She got to her feet, pounding her fists on the glass, yet was unable to break free.

"Let me out of here!" she ordered.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Chris. Like I said, if I had your abilities, I would be unstoppable. Well, this machine I've created lets me steal the abilities of anyone I want! Once I saw you run yesterday, I knew I couldn't let you slip through my fingertips! I've already stolen the talents of other Track team members, but you by far are the best of them! There are a few nasty side effects from this, but you'll live."

"So all the people you said had gotten sick, you actually got your slimy hands on them instead?! Tch! You really are a piece of crap!"

"Hmph. You certainly are upset, Chris. I suppose I would be to if the situation were reversed. Anyway, just sit tight. This'll be over before you know it."

Dyson punched something in on a panel on the robot before standing directly underneath it. A light then came down, enveloping him, just as something inside the pod started up as well. Electricity ran through it and whatever was happening, Chris was powerless to stop it.

_ ...__I can't believe this. That idiot completely tricked me!_

She was upset, more upset than she realized. This had been her first experience with a boy of any kind and it had ended in the worst way imaginable. Her feelings were an emotional wreck, with her wanting to cry and scream simultaneously. As silly as it sounded, she was far more upset over her heart being broken into a million pieces than being some pawn in Dyson's sick plan.

"I-I'm going to **kill** him the second I get out of this pod!" she declared. Her energy was zapped away just then and collapsing, she held her spinning head. "I-I don't feel so good..."

"Haha! Yes! I can feeling your abilities flowing into me!" said Dyson in excitement.

The machine stopped what it was doing and the door to the pod finally opened. With no more energy, Chris simply fell out of it and onto the ground.

"I feel amazing!" said Dyson. Stretching, he felt as if he had stepped into someone else's skin, someone far more powerful than himself. "Yes! I can win the competition on Saturday no problems now! It's just a shame we couldn't tackle it together, Chris. I would have really liked running with you."

"You're...so full of...crap..." Chris mumbled. Speaking was a real challenge, considering her jaw felt like it weighed a couple tons in her weakened state. "I-I don't know...what you've done to me, but...undo it before I...break your teeth in!"

"If there's anyone full of crap right now, Chris, it's you. You couldn't lay a finger on me even if you tried like that. Besides, you shouldn't be so upset! Your talents are going to further a much greater cause now!"

Chris swiped her hand at Dyson, who had bent down to her, but he dodged and cackled at her futile effort. Waving, he walked away and even though Chris tried to crawl after him, she sensed her consciousness slipping. She couldn't just let him get away though. She used the last of her strength to reach up to her hair and retrieve the Ladybug Spy Clip, tossing it onto Dyson's leg without him noticing.

"G-Gotcha..."

That was her limit. She passed out right there in the middle of the track, she unsure of when she would awaken again.

* * *

"Chris! Chris! Come on, wake up! Snap out of it!"

Being shaken awake was something Chris always hated. Because of this, she groaned angrily at the person disturbing her slumber while she sat up. It was then the reality of the situation hit her and her first instinct was to search around like a madwoman for Dyson Glee. He was gone, however, gone with her stolen abilities. Everything that had happened was fresh on her mind, yet how much time had passed since then?

Calming, she got a glimpse of the person who had woken her up. It was Sam, along with a concerned looking Alex and Clover behind her. Chris sat up in Sam's arms, almost wanting to pass out again from the strain of the simple gesture. Dyson hadn't been kidding about his machine having 'side effects' on its victims.

"Chris! You're alright!" said Alex, who was greatly relieved. "We were all thinking the worst there for a moment!"

"Yeah, what happened?!" asked Clover. "Something really awful, I guess, because there's no way any girl would be caught dead lying on the dirty ground in a dress like that!"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," said Chris. Even fabricating the truth made her entire body throb with pain. "I-I need to go. I-I have to find...!"

"Whoa! You can't go anywhere! Not in your condition!" Sam informed her. "Seriously though, what happened to you?! You were just lying in the middle of the track when we found you! What happened with Dyson?"

"And what happened to this place?" said Clover. "Someone totally trashed it!"

The track laid in ruins, a side effect of Dyson's robot stomping around the place. Still, the giant footprints strewn about didn't tell the whole story.

"I don't...feel like explaining." Against her better judgment, Chris wobbled her way to a standing position. She didn't care how bad she felt. All her mind was focused on finding Dyson and making him pay. "Dyson...gotta...find him..."

"Dyson? Look, I don't know what happened, but you **really** shouldn't be moving around right now! We'll find Dyson for you, alright?" said Sam.

"Yeah! I think the Nurse's Office is still open, so you should head straight there!" added Alex.

Chris thought for a moment, deciding that the three girls in front of her wouldn't be satisfied unless she agreed to their terms. It was then she noticed she had overlooked something important about her friend's sudden appearance here tonight.

"Wait, how did you three know I was in trouble?"

On cue, Sam, Alex, and Clover began whistling suspiciously. They really didn't want to answer that one, but the way Chris was glaring at them softened their resolve.

"Alright, fine! W-We came to spy on you!" said Clover.

"We wanted to see how your date was going!" explained Alex.

"Judging from your current state though, I guess not well," said Sam. "Well, anyway, you really should go see the nurse! If Dyson was the one who did this to you, then we'll find him for sure!"

Chris had neither the will or the energy to argue. Instead, she watched the three WOOHP agents go on their merry way, amused at them not even asking her where Dyson had gone.

"Gotta...contact Scar," she gasped out, pulling out her Z-Powder to get her boss on the line. Thankfully, Scar answered in a reasonable amount of time. "S-Scar...I-I think I've figured out what that invention you wanted me to steal is. I'm...going to go after it right now."

"Y-You've found the invention already?! B-But it's only been a day! I was certain it would take you much longer. W-Wait a moment, Agent C! Are you alright? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine. I'm going now."

She didn't have time to waste explaining her situation to Scar, so she dropped the call. Changing into her spy catsuit, she activated the tracking features of the Ladybug Spy Clip and was pleased to see that Dyson was close by. In fact, he was a little **too** close. Unless her radar was malfunctioning, it was currently telling her her target was close by. She searched her surroundings, though found no one around but herself. Her eyes then found their way toward the ground.

"...I see now. He's gotta be underneath me. Tch, don't tell me he has a secret underground lair beneath the sewers...?"

A nearby manhole gave Chris the entrance she needed. She leaped down into the musty and smelly sewers, replacing the lid on the opening behind her. This wasn't going to be her first trek down dimly lit corridors, although this time would certainly be the stinkiest. While she moved on ahead in the path her radar was directing her, she had no choice but to use the wall as a support so not to fall over. Her legs were the equivalent of gelatin at the moment.

"I'm...beginning to feel a bit light headed..."

Her Z-Powder was beeping every second now; Dyson was just up ahead. She willed her way around another corner and found herself dismayed when she saw no one. Indeed, there was nothing of interest save for something glowing red in the rushing water. Chris reached down and picked it up to see that it was the Ladybug Spy Clip.

"Dammit! He must have figured out what it was and tossed it!"

Fortunately, Dyson hadn't otherwise done a good job of covering his tracks. Chris looked on up ahead to see that the sides of the hallways were littered with the tracks of Dyson's machine, which had clearly followed its master down here.

"A trail of breadcrumbs..."

She was happy to see that at least one thing was going her way. The markings led her right into a wide open area, one she could tell was man made. Inside of it was the robot that had attacked her earlier and standing in front of it was none other than Dyson Glee. The mere sight of him made Chris fly into a blind rage. Perhaps sensing her emotions, Dyson turned himself to her.

"W-What the...?! Who are you?! How did you manage to find this place?!"

"Dyson...Glee. I've been looking for you! There's nowhere left for you to run!"

"Hmph. I've never seen you before, so what business could you possibly have with me?"

Chris removed her ski mask to allow Dyson a glimpse at his destroyer. Revealing her identity had dire consequences and it was something Scar warned her never to do, yet she considered this instance an exception to the rules.

"Chris? Well, isn't this a surprise? You sure are persistent. Is that supposed to be some kind of Halloween costume or something?" Dyson inquired.

"Funny. There isn't going to be anything funny about me breaking your face in half though."

"You really think you're a challenge to me in your condition? You couldn't even catch me. After all, I **am** the world's greatest runner now!"

Dyson laughed at his own remark, while Chris slipped her mask back on in preparation to fight.

"I've come here for two things, Dyson Glee. First off, I'm going to need you to fix whatever it is you've done to me. Secondly, I'm going to need that robot of yours. It's coming with me, whether you like it or not!"

Dyson certainly found nothing humorous in her demands. "As if! Do you know how hard it was to even build this thing, let alone get it to work properly?!"

"How should I know? I figured you must have stolen it like your so called running prowess."

"You're going to pay for that remark!"

Dyson prepared to go on the attack, but Chris beat him to the punch by jumping into the air and aiming a kick straight for his face. He managed to dodge this quite easily though and Chris crashed onto the floor in a crumpled heap. It seemed that even her fighting abilities had been diminished to the point they were useless.

"Come on, I thought you were going to 'bash my skull in!'" mocked Dyson. "Maybe you can't hit me because you have some lingering feelings for me?"

"Tch! As if!" Chris replied. "I admit, I was an idiot to fall for you, but you're an even bigger idiot for pissing me off! Never mess with a woman with a broken heart!"

Though her body was weak, Chris willed it onward. She couldn't let Dyson get away with hurting her so much, not while he stood their laughing like it wasn't a problem. She scratched and clawed at him, hoping to get even a single fingertip on his person. However, her legs gave up halfway through and she hit the ground again.

"You know, Chris, you're all talk. I liked it better when you were quieter."

Dyson used the opening to slam his foot into her stomach. Letting out a howl of anguish, Chris rolled back on the ground and growled in anger.

"I'll...get you!" she stated in between coughs.

"I don't think so, Chris. I'm finishing you, here and now."

Stopping Dyson from striking again was the sudden arrival of Sam, Alex, and Clover. The three of them unintentionally shielded Chris with their bodies as they confronted a perplexed Dyson.

"Alex? And I've seen you two before. You're her friends."

"That's right, Dyson! As much as I hate to say it, we're here to stop whatever evil plans you've come up with!" said Alex, pointing.

"Yeah! We didn't trek through that groddy sewer for nothing!" added Clover.

"We know you've been stealing the talents of all the athletes on the Mali-U track team!" declared Sam. "And that's why we're here to stop you!"

"Tch! It's one interferer after the other! Like I told your friend sulking on the floor behind you, you're not taking my invention! Anyone who messes with me is going to suffer the consequences!"

"They're not...my friends, you imbecile," said Chris, getting to her feet. "And you WOOHP idiots need to stay out of this! Me and this guy have some personal business we need to attend to!"

"You don't...look so good," Alex admitted. "Are you alright?"

"I'm...fine," Chris replied. The fact that she could hardly catch her breath did nothing to instill confidence in the others that her words were the truth. "W-Why are you worried about me anyway?! I'm the enemy! If anything, you should be taking advantage of this situation by finishing me off!"

"Sorry, girlfriend, but that's just not our style!" Clover stated.

"Yeah. We may be enemies, but we'd never stoop as low as to attack you while you're clearly hurt!" added Sam. "With that in mind, we don't really want to hurt you, so I suggest you get out of here while you can!"

"Tch, fat chance. That robot back there is coming with me first!" said Chris.

"If you want it so badly, you're going to have to go through us!"

While the idea sounded just fine in Chris' mind, she was smart enough to realize that she had no hope of taking on Sam, Alex, and Clover all at the same time in her condition. It was tantamount to suicide. As such, she merely shrugged, suggesting they do whatever they wanted.

"Huh? She's just...giving up?" asked Alex.

"I don't like the smell of this," said Clover. "Though I'm thinking that just the smell of this nasty sewer!"

"Believe what you want. Like I said, you're better off killing me if you don't trust me," said Chris in a calm and collected manner. "I don't have the time nor the energy to convince you otherwise."

"...Let's just leave her be for now, girls," said Sam. "Though don't think we're done with you, SOAP spy! We still have to drag you back to WOOHP headquarters!"

Chris again shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't mean to interrupt your conversation, girls, but I seriously have things I need to be doing right now. If you're not going to leave, you leave me no choice but to destroy you!"

At the snap of his fingers, Dyson's precious robot came to life. It marched its way toward the WOOHP agents, tossing a number of its tentacles at them. The three were able to get out of the way in time, while Chris used the distraction to regain her bearings. Her earlier words of not being a threat to her enemies had been nothing but lies designed to buy her some time.

_If I can't fight with my fists, I'm just going to have to use another weapon..._

She found exactly what she was looking for when she pulled out the container holding the Icy Fresh Freeze Bombs. Staring at them, she just hoped they weren't as innocent as they appeared. At the very least, they tasted good, as she popped a couple into her mouth. However, the longer she chewed, the more frigid her mouth became and unable to stand it any longer, she exhaled at the top of her lungs. This was most likely the gadget's intended effect, since her breath froze everything around her solid. This included the WOOHP spies, Dyson, and his killer robot.

"Whoa..." Chris muttered. "I'll never doubt Scar again."

"Um...I-I can't move," said Alex, who was stuck in a funny pose.

"Neither can I. This totally going to ruin my complexion!" stated Clover.

"W-Would you two get serious! W-We have to find a way out of here!" Sam told them.

"And while you're at it, unfreeze me as well!" added Dyson.

"Sorry, but you four aren't going anywhere for awhile, so just 'chill out' in the meantime." Chris, walking up to everyone, grinned at their current predicament. "Just when I think you three can't get more gullible..."

Destroying everyone present would be a simple matter, but Chris had another thing she needed to attend to first. She moved herself over to Dyson's robot, quickly finding the control panel. Her fingers clacked against the many buttons until she activated the talent draining features of the machine, making sure to start it up in reverse. She then moved herself into the light that began shining from the robot's bottom.

"W-What are you doing?! Get away from my creation!" Dyson told her.

"Sure, but after I take back what's mine. If you don't want me messing with your precious robot, come over here and try to stop me."

Seeing Dyson try in vain to move from his current spot was enough to get a chuckle out of Chris, as she felt her strength flow back into her. The machine, becoming dead silent, finished its handiwork.

"That's better," said a stretching Chris, her turned her sights on Dyson. "Now I can kick your teeth in properly this time around."

There wasn't much Dyson could do to stop what was coming and he shuttered as such. Meanwhile, Sam was gradually able to move her arm, enough to reach something on her person.

"Almost...! Just have to...grab the Wind Tunnel 9000 Turbo Blast Hair Dryer...!"

Her fingers slipped off the gadget a couple of times, yet she was able to get a firm grip on the pink hairdryer eventually. Using it, she blasted her way to freedom thanks to the high intensity heat before freeing Alex and Clover as well.

"Tch. So you three are up again," said Chris. "Whatever. I should have no problems taking you down now that I'm at one hundred percent again."

"N-Not so fast!" mumbled Dyson. His tongue was frozen outside of his mouth, making his speech difficult to understand. "H-Have you girls forgotten about me?!"

Through sheer will, Dyson managed to make his tongue press down on a black remote in his hand. This in turn made his robot come back to life, it easily breaking free from its icy binding. Chris, Sam, Alex, and Clover all screamed in terror when it aimed one of its tentacles for them, though they all managed to get out of the way somehow. More of its limbs caught the WOOHP agents off guard though and they were ensnared within its grasp. Chris was spared such a fate only because she managed to use the Guardian Bracelet Scar had given her. The purple barrier successfully blocked the tentacle strike, sending Dyson's robot reeling back. However, this did nothing to save the WOOHP spies from their precarious situation.

"Agh! I can't break free!" Sam howled. "H-How about you, Clover?!"

"This tentacle is totally ruining my hair!" yelled Clover.

"Forget your hair! We're totally gonna to be killed if we don't so something quick!" cried Alex.

The moment Chris was witness to was one she should have been drinking in. Her mortal enemies, agents of WOOHP, were about to meet their demise. It really should have been the best thing ever.

Yet, there was doubt clouding her mind. Could she really allow this to happen? Even if they were her sworn enemies, could she really allow the three she called her 'friends' to die like trapped animals?

_I...I..._

There was no hesitation in her movements. Chris jumped onto Dyson's robot and sliced Sam, Alex, and Clover to freedom. Tentacles hit the ground everywhere, while the machine toppled onto the ground, sparking as it did. Dyson's eyeballs half near popped out of their sockets at this. His mighty machine shouldn't have been defeated so easily, not by a mere girl clad in black anyway.

"N-No! **No**! W-What have you done?!" he exclaimed, ripping out strands of his hair in frustration. "H-How am I supposed to steal the talents of the world's best runner's now?!"

"I know this may sound strange to you, but how about you actually exert some effort and just train like every other athlete in the world?!" Chris snapped.

"N-No way! **You** saved us?!" said Sam to Chris. "B-But...why?!"

"...What do you want me to say?" Chris replied.

"Hello?! Maybe you can tell us why you go from trying to rub us out one moment to saving our skins the next!" cried Clover.

"...Like I said. I'm not sure what you want me to say."

"Seriously though, we owe you our lives!" said Alex.

Chris felt a shred of embarrassment from Alex's praise when she should have been sensing disappointment. She had thrown away a good chance to rid herself of some pesky vermin once and for all. If Scar were here to see her actions, he would have had her executed on the spot. Nevertheless, she didn't regret her actions as much as she anticipated she would. In fact, there was a great deal of relief wallowed up inside her, relief to see that her friends were alright.

"...If you want an answer so badly, consider me saving you repayment for you three protecting me back when we went up against Dr. Heisenberg. Anyway, I'm not going to allow you all to die, not unless **I'm** the one doing the deed!"

With that out of the way, Chris put away the long dagger she had used to cut the Spies free. Sam took particular interest in this, she having never seen Chris wield the weapon before.

"You think I'm just going to let you get away with this?!" Dyson was over the deep end now. One of his eyelids was pulsating as fast as his heart and he was ready to rip each and everyone present to pieces. "I'll finish you all here and now!"

"Well, you know what they say, Dyson. Cheaters never prosper," replied Chris. "You're the only one that's going down though. Just try me."

That was a challenge Dyson had no qualms taking. He charged at Chris in a blind rage and swung for the fences. However, rather than connecting, the punch was caught effortlessly by his target.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you that it's not okay to hit girls?" said Chris. "Too bad it doesn't really apply the other way around."

She nearly broke Dyson's jaw with a fierce headbutt, following it up with a roundhouse kick that knocked her poor opponent into the wall. The two blows in succession were more than enough to do the job, as Dyson crumpled onto the ground groaning. Chris wasn't done with him yet though. Snatching him up by his shirt, she pulled her fist back and readied the finishing blow. Just then, something fell off of Dyson's neck.

"Hmm? What do we have here?"

Letting him go, Chris bent down and picked up the circular object that was no bigger than a ring. She saw that it was some sort of microchip on closer inspection.

"Did this...come off him?"

"Agh, my head!" Dyson, sitting up, searched around his surroundings, clearly disorientated. "H-Huh?! W-Where the heck am I?! Whoa! W-What is that robot over there?! A-And who are you girls?! Why are you all wearing spandex? Is there some sort of costume party going on or something?"

"Tch! Don't play dumb with me, Dyson Glee!" Chris told him.

"I-I'm not! I seriously have no idea what's going on!"

Impossible, Chris thought. Unless her assault on him had given him amnesia, she couldn't fathom how he had forgotten everything that had occurred. It would have been easy for her to think he was lying, yet his genuine expression of confusion said otherwise.

* * *

"Get away from our son, you evil girl!"

"That's right! Don't you dare lay another finger on him!"

Just when Chris was certain things couldn't get stranger, she spun around toward the two people talking to her to see a middle aged man and woman glaring at her in the distance.

"W-Where the hell did you two come from?" she asked.

"Mom?! Dad?!" cried Dyson. "W-What are you two doing here?!"

Dyson's mother smiled at him. "We just had to make sure our precious son was alright."

"Yes. Unfortunately, son, we still have to clean up after your mistakes," his father stated, sighing. "Even with the behavior modification chip we implanted on you, it appears we're going to have to finish this in your stead."

"W-What are you guys talking about?!" Dyson replied.

"That's what I'd like to know," added Chris.

"I get it!" said Sam suddenly. "You put that chip on him to control his actions! That's why he's been doing all this, isn't it?!"

"That's right," said Dyson's mom with a nod. "You see, we only want what's best for our son! He has the potential to be the world's greatest runner, but he lacks the drive. He's far too kind hearted for his own good."

"And so, we figured we would help him 'get over the hump' so to speak by giving him a little 'push'," added Dyson's dad. "We got that curious chip from some parents from a town by the name of the O.P. They had tried it to keep their kids under control, so we figured it would be an excellent way to motivate our Dyson into becoming the world's top runner!"

"You do realize how totally insane that sounds, right?!" yelled Clover. "You two are total wackos!"

"That isn't true! We were just looking out for our dear son! You'll understand one day, sweetheart, when you have children of your own!" said Dyson's mother.

"Tch! And ruin **this **perfect figure giving birth? No thank you!"

"...So you're saying Dyson was really being controlled this entire time...?" said Chris slowly, not wanting to believe it, for it meant Dyson wasn't the bad guy after all.

"I seriously can't much of what I've done for the past couple of days," Dyson admitted. "B-But judging from what you guys are saying, I have a feeling that whatever I've been doing, it hasn't been good. I'm sorry."

**That** was the Dyson Chris knew. **This** was the Dyson Chris had fallen in love with. There was no more doubt in her head about his motives, as she shifted her ire to the people that had the nerve to call themselves his parents.

"You two are **idiots**!" she informed them, causing them both to gasp. "My parents are dead, but if they were **anything** like you two, I would say they were better off that way! I can't believe you made a sweet, innocent guy like Dyson do so many despicable things!"

"Well, she sure changed her tune fast," said Sam, rolling her eyes. "Just a few seconds ago, she was beating the guy to a bloody pulp."

"We know what's best for our son! You're nothing but an insolent heathen, little girl!" Dyson's father stated ahead of telling his wife, "We'll just have to use a stronger mind control chip next time so our hold on him is broken so easily, Dear."

With a smile, his mother added, "That's right! After all, we have to ensure our Dyson's future!"

* * *

Without warning, black suited men swarmed inside from the entrance of the room and surrounded those present on every conceivable side. Two of them then grabbed onto Dyson's parents, effectively restraining them. No one could make sense of what was going until a man appeared from the crowd. This man was one Chris immediately recognized as Jerry Lewis, leader of the World Organization of Human Protection.

"I'd have to disagree with your assessment," he said to Dyson's folks. "That's because you won't be implanting anymore microchips on your son when you're locked away in WOOHP's containment facility. Take them away."

"Y-You can't do this to us!" said Dyson's mom. "W-We just wanted what's best for our son! U-Unhand me, you vile man!"

"I-I say! Release me and my wife at once!" Dyson's dad said to the men holding them.

No such thing happened and they were instead hauled off to serve there time at WOOHP headquarters.

"D-Did my parents seriously just get arrested?" asked Dyson. The tone of his voice implied that he wasn't sure if he should have been upset or baffled at what he just saw.

Jerry, walking over to him, said, "Don't you worry. We won't **really** throw your parents in jail. I figure a punishment like that might be a bit too harsh. We'll have them do a few hundred hours of community service while also enrolling them in some parenting classes. In the meantime, why don't you go with my men? We'll take care of you for the time being."

Dyson wasn't exactly sure what Jerry meant by that, especially since the old man was smiling for some reason. Two of Jerry's agents grabbed Dyson by the shoulders and led him out of the sewers. The rest of his men followed behind, leaving Chris to fend for herself against Sam, Alex, Clover, and their boss. She scowled at Jerry when he acknowledged her and her fingers were inching to attach themselves to his throat so they could rip it out.

"So, I finally get to meet this agent of Scar that's been giving my spies so much trouble," he said to her.

"Jerry Lewis. You've got a lot of nerve showing your face to me!" she replied.

"Is that so? Tell me, why is that?"

Without saying another word to him, Chris went on the attack. Her sudden movements didn't throw Jerry off, however, since he avoided her attacks and swept her off her feet with a quick parry. She hastily got up and tried again, seemingly connecting with a side kick. Even that blow was blocked though and her eyes widened at Jerry's quick movements.

"I know all your techniques because after all, the man that taught them to you was the same man that I trained personally."

Spinning her leg, Jerry made Chris fall face first into the dirt. She lied there for a couple of moments and her fingers scrapped against the soil in anger. She had been waiting her whole life for a chance like this, yet she came to the painful conclusion that she couldn't defeat Jerry, not this time anyway. As such, she opted to make her escape and regroup. Her bungee cable was aimed toward the exit and flying toward it it, it seemed she was going to make another clean get away.

"Not so fast!" Jerry cried.

He reached onto his person and expertly tossed something at her. The fact that it was a blue credit card though was enough to make her laugh.

"What? Is he trying to 'buy' my freedom or something?" Chris joked.

Her cheerful expression faded when a pair of blades retracted themselves from the card. Her instincts kicked in and she pressed the button on her Guardian Bracelet to defend herself. Unfortunately, the gadget seemed to malfunction. Rather than shielding her, it did absolutely nothing and the credit card preceded to cut right through her cable, sending her downward.

"Out of all the times for one of Scar's stupid inventions to screw up...!"

Crashing, she groaned, being powerless to stop Sam, Clover, and Alex from quickly holding her down.

"Excellent work, girls!" Jerry told them, as he stepped over to the group with his hands in his pocket. He then crouched down to Chris and said, "Well, I have a lot of questions to ask you as soon as we take you back to WOOHP headquarters. Do try to be compliant."

Two of Jerry's agents took Chris off of the others hands and Sam and the gang waved to her sardonically while she was being dragged off.

"Take care now!" said Sam. "It's been a real blast!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll look **great** in prison stripes!" added a winking Clover.

"Try not to get sick off the nasty jail food!" yelled Alex. "Maybe we'll come visit you while you're behind bars!"

Chris sure hoped not.

_T-They're going to __**pay**__ for this! __They all are!_

END


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Like, So Totally Captured!

Never in even her worst nightmares did Chris envision a day like this.

Being escorted in handcuffs was bad enough, yet it was the fact she was being led down a hallway inside of WOOHP Headquarters that really got under her skin. Growling under her breath, she understood her current predicament was the result of her carelessness. She had allowed herself to be captured by Jerry Lewis and his cronies and as such, she was helpless in the face of whatever fate the leader of the World Organization of Human Protection had in store for her.

Escaping was her only hope, yet the pair of agents binding her arms complicated matters. Their strong grip was far too much for her to overcome, especially with a pair of handcuffs restricting her hands. As such, she could do nothing more at the moment than glance ahead at the back of the man she hated most in the world.

_...__Jerry Lewis is right there and I can't do a damn thing about it!_

Calming down, she steered her muddled thoughts toward coming up with a plan of action before it was too late. Being stuck as a prisoner of WOOHP for the rest of her life wasn't the most enchanting scenario after all.

_Scar should realize I'm missing by now..._

If that was indeed the case, he had mostly likely already sent a search party after her. Then again, she found herself questioning whether Scar would seriously be willing to risk the lives and resources just to save her. If she were in charge of SOAP, she wouldn't be. The mere idea would be idiotic to her.

_I guess I'm on my own then..._

Her attention shifted back to Jerry Lewis walking ahead of her. The man was whistling a rather pleasant tune in spite of the situation and feeling insulted, Chris became irate once more.

"So, what exactly are you going to do with me, Jerry Lewis?" she asked the man sharply. "Are you going to throw me in that cesspool you call a prison with the rest of your criminals?"

"That's right, but first, I have some questions I want to ask you," he replied.

"Tsk! An interrogation is it? You're wasting your time if you think I'm going to tell **you** anything! I've been trained to withstand any kind of torture, so you'll find anything you try pointless!"

"An interrogation? Heavens no!" said Jerry with a cheery laugh. "Like I said, I just want to have a little chat with you. Perhaps we can even share a cup of tea together."

Chris squinted her eyes at this, not having the slightest clue what Jerry was thinking.

_Is he just...messing with me?_

Jerry, his cohorts, and Chris in tow, all entered a small, silver office through a pair of sliding doors. Everything in the room was metallic and full of high tech machinery, but strangely, there was also a red sofa in the middle of it all. The sight of it made Chris raise an eyebrow because it stood out so much from everything else.

"Please, do have a seat," Jerry told Chris as he leaned on his desk at the head of the room.

The men holding Chris roughly planted her on the sofa and she returned the favor by hissing at them while they exited the premises. This left Chris and Jerry, a situation Chris would have liked if she were allowed the use of her hands.

"...Why did you bring me here?" she asked as she glared at WOOHP's leader. "This room doesn't even look the part for an interrogation, so what are you planning?"

"Hmm? I thought I told you already. I just want to have a chat with you."

"...Alright. I'll play along for the time being. What could you possibly want to discuss with me?"

"Actually, I'm quite curious about why you seem to hold so much anger for me and my organization. I'm certain we've never met before, yet you seem to want my head on a platter."

"...I see. Well then, if you really want to know, just take off my mask. I'm sure you'll get your answer then."

The proposition left Jerry a bit apprehensive, but he did as suggested and pulled off the black ski mask shrouding Chris' face. The moment he did so, he let out a sharp gasp and took a couple steps back in shock, nearly tripping over his desk in the process.

"N-No! I-It can't be!" he cried, his voice shaking.

"That's right, Jerry Lewis! It **is**! The past has come back to haunt you in a big way! Now then, I'm going to finally make you pay for murdering my parents all those years ago! You won't have your WOOHP agents to save you this time!"

The conversation, while pointless in Chris' opinion, was at least an good distraction. Jerry had been none the wiser to her cutting herself free using her dagger whilst they spoke. With her pesky handcuffs out of the way, she was able to lunge at Jerry, who reacted quickly enough to get out of the way in time. Her sharp edged weapon that had been aimed for his heart instead impacted his desk. This was not enough to deter her and she began stabbing at him with enough force to cause some serious damage. Aware of this, Jerry dodged a number of the jabs before quickly hiding himself behind his desk. Chris, not daring let him escape, followed behind, but was confused when the only thing to greet her was a swiveling chair.

"Impossible! T-There's no way he could have gotten away without me seeing him!"

Her eyes scanned her surroundings carefully, though she could make no sense of things. It was as if Jerry had vanished into thin air.

However, when something suddenly hit her and pinned her to the wall, she knew it had all been a ruse to catch her off guard.

"I can't...move...!" she declared. Whatever was binding her was some kind of white, sticky substance. "Huh?! This is...spider web!"

Try as she might, she couldn't even move a finger against the strength of the substance. It was then Jerry appeared and walked over to her, tossing a couple items that looked like small marbles up and down in his hand as he did.

"That's quite the 'sticky' situation you've gotten yourself into," he said, chuckling. "I call these the Web In A Ball. They're still going through the testing phases, but I think you personally can attest to them functioning properly. It was your leader, Scar, that initially conceived the idea for this gadget. How ironic then that it would be your downfall."

"You...talk too much!" Chris replied through gritted teeth.

Jerry, frowning at the remark, proceeded to take the dagger that Chris was clutching ever so tightly in her grasp. He then inspected it closely, soon coming to the realization he recognized it.

"G-Give that back, you bastard!" yelled Chris.

"...I suppose this proves my suspicious," said Jerry in a somber tone. "You really are Diane and Nathaniel's daughter then. I didn't want to believe it at first, but how else could you have Nathaniel's dagger in your possession? Still, there's one thing I don't understand. I thought you perished along with your parents over ten years ago!"

"Hmph! I suppose that's the way you planned things, right?! Unfortunately for you, I managed to survive that accident! Now then, I suggest you cut me down from here so I can finally finish this! After all the pain and suffering you've caused me all these years, it's only right that you willingly offer your neck to me as justice!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. However, I feel I must take some blame for what happened to your parents. It was a terrible tragedy indeed. Diane and Nathaniel were two of my best agents and they lost their lives on a mission for WOOHP. I would give anything to have them back. Nevertheless, they would no doubt be very disappointed to see their only child working for evil."

"Tsk! Like you have any right to judge anyone as being evil!"

As if responding to her desperate situation, the Guardian Bracelet still attached to Chris' wrist started to beep. The gadget then activated, with the shield inadvertently cutting her free. With nothing keeping her airborne any longer, she landed bottom first on the ground.

"H-Huh?! Well, what do you know? This stupid thing actually works after all!" she stated. "Still, it sure took it's sweet time doing so!"

"I see. So that was actually a gadget. No doubt one created by Scar," said Jerry, scowling. "He always was a clever fellow. Unfortunately, he was also had a wicked heart."

"You idiots here at WOOHP should be more thorough with your searches. Not only did you allow me to hang on to a dangerous weapon, but you also let this gadget slip by you! Now then..."

Chris nailed Jerry in the face with a straight punch which sent him reeling back. In the process of doing so, he dropped her father's dagger and she managed to grab it out of midair, feeling the object was back with its rightful owner. Her next plan of action was to make her escape while she could. As much as she wanted to destroy Jerry, she decided to save the occasion for another time.

"...We'll finish this later, Jerry Lewis! Don't you forget it!"

As a groaning Jerry clutched his now bleeding nose, he gasped at the sight of her escaping through the double doors up ahead. He immediately slammed his fist down on a button on his desk. The building's security system was then activated, although Jerry wondered if the damage had already been done.

"...Don't think you're getting away that easily! I can't allow you to roam freely anymore, Christine. Let this be my atonement for what happened to your parents..."

* * *

"A-Argh! Of course he activated the security system!"

Running down a rather lengthy hallway inside WOOHP HQ, Chris tried drowning out the annoying siren and flashing, red lights blaring throughout the building by covering her ears. It was the least of her troubles, however, as she was currently wandering around like a headless chicken. No matter where she went, she seemed to run into nothing but dead ends. Everything was like a maze and without a map, she knew she would be wasting her time.

"If only I had my Z-Powder. Perhaps I could have used it to navigate around this confusing mess of an edifice. I can't even contact Scar to help me out without it..."

That left her with only her Guardian Bracelet. While it certainly had its uses, helping her escape probably wasn't one of them. Besides, it appeared to be on the fritz again, considering she couldn't get it to work.

"Maybe I just need to wait a bit for it to recharge?"

Shrugging, she paid the gadget no mind and pressed onward, having no other choice but to do so.

* * *

Though she had expected such a thing, she was still annoyed to stumble upon yet another dead end. An intimidating door of steel blocked her path this time around and she saw no conceivable way to get it open, not with her bare hands at least. It seemed the door required an identification card of some sort. On top of that, there was a retinal scanner right next to it, with a hand print scanner just below.

"Tsk! What sort of madman designed this?!"

Heading in the other direction, she was greeted by a similar door, meaning she was basically trapped. She made her way back to the center of the corridor and growled in anger at the circumstances.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm honestly out of ideas here."

The alarm that had been sounding throughout the building abruptly stopped for some reason. Chris, unsure if WOOHP had given up their pursuit of her, used the apparent peace to collect her thoughts. That turned out to be a mistake though since WOOHP agents appeared and quickly swarmed around her from both sides of the hallway. Trapped, her head shifted from side to side in search of an escape route, yet her eyes could find none. It looked as if she was going to have to fight her way to freedom if she wanted to avoid capture again.

_Well, there's only about thirty of them. I'm sure I can...wait. I missed a couple in the back. __I don't think this is going to work__..._

The black suited agents moved in for the kill and Chris prepared herself for the worse. Just then, the floor panel underneath her broke apart and before she could even react to this, she was literally sucked into the newly formed hole by a powerful force. The only thing left in her wake was the sound of her terrified screaming.

* * *

"W-What the hell is going on?!"

Chris currently found herself sliding down some sort of chute, one filled with a number of twists and turns. Where it was leading her, she hadn't a clue, though she felt like she would end up throwing up her breakfast if she remained on it much longer.

The rough ride ended even rougher when she fell out of the tunnel and down onto some concrete bottom first.

"A-Agh! I-I guess I can forget sitting down for awhile..."

Fortunately, there weren't any other nasty surprises awaiting her as she got to her feet. Her new surroundings were devoid of WOOHP agents thankfully, instead being filled to the brim with prison cell. She rose one of her eyelids at this and took a careful few steps through the expansive area until she reached a railing. Peering down from it, she gasped at the sight of dozens of floors that resembled the one she was on.

"This is...the WOOHP containment facility isn't it?" she muttered. "Hmph. How ironic that I would end up coming here after all. Where are all the guards though?"

It made little sense to her why a place with so many high profile criminals housed in it would be left unguarded. Perhaps everyone had went out for lunch.

"Well, I'm not going back that way," she said after glancing up at the tunnel that had dropped her off. "...Why was I sucked into that hole in the first place? And why did it drop me off here of all places?"

There must have been thousands upon thousands of criminals housed there, a testament to WOOHP's effectiveness. Nevertheless, Chris was determined not to become one of them. Orange prison garbs didn't look that great on her anyway.

Deciding she had nothing better to do, she figured she might as well take a stroll around the place and do some scouting. If there was a way out, she would find it. Upon doing so, she was greeted by a number of irate glares from the various degenerates housed in the facility. She scowled right back at them, causing a number of them to back off. However, she stopped in her tracks when a voice called out to her suddenly.

"**YOU**!" it yelled. "Y-You're that girl from the Miss Mali-U Pageant, aren't you?!"

Chris moved her head over to the person speaking to her and noted they sounded vaguely familiar. It was afterward she regretted her decision because the individual turned out to be none other than Kyla Sacks, the woman who had orchestrated a beauty competition at Malibu University just to exact her revenge on the pretty girls that entered. Sitting across from her in the same prison jumpsuit was Doctor Heisenberg, Chris' former Physics teacher and an expert in the subject. Unfortunately, his knowledge of robotics wasn't nearly as extensive.

"Yes, that is indeed Christine," Heisenberg muttered. "I wouldn't forget that face. Not for anything in the world. After all, it's the face of the girl who put me in this cell to rot for the rest of my days."

"You can blame your own stupidity for your current predicament," Chris replied. "Besides, it was WOOHP that captured you, not me."

"Ah, yes. However, your actions played a role in my arrest just the same."

"Whatever. I don't have time to waste talking to you imbeciles."

"Y-You don't even look the least bit sorry we're in here!" screamed Kyla. "W-What are you even doing here anyway? You don't look like a prisoner to me..."

"Yes, I noticed that as well," said Heisenberg. "It's a shame you're not trapped here with us. I've been dying to get my hands on you to exact a bit of revenge."

"Save your lame revenge plots, Heisenberg. They never work out in the end anyway, or have you forgotten?" said Chris. "Like I said, I don't have time to waste talking to you two, so leave me alone. I'm trying to think."

With that, Chris started to walk away.

"You really are a rude little girl!" Kyla proclaimed. "You've ruined both our lives, so the least you could do is help us escape! That's what you're trying to do yourself, right?"

Chris, stopping, turned herself around. "...Why the hell would I help you two do that?"

"While it's true we are enemies, I believe we can help one another out in this situation," said Heisenberg. "I believe I may know of a way out of here."

"...I'm listening."

"Good. I..."

"Wait a minute, old man!" interrupted Kyla. "I-If you knew of a way to get out of here, why the heck didn't you tell me before instead of boring me with robotics talk?!"

"I assure you, the world of fashion isn't an interesting topic either," Heisenberg answered. He then turned to Chris, saying, "The three of us have one thing in common: we all want to escape from this place. Therefore, it would be in our best interest to work together for the time being. Three heads are better than one, after all."

"I...guess that makes sense," Chris admitted. "...Fine. As much as the thought makes me want to vomit, I'll work with you both. I don't want to spend another second in this place, so put that brain to good use, Doctor."

Heisenberg adjusted his glasses. "Of course. It's what I do best."

"Just know that I don't trust either of you."

"Well, the feeling is mutual!" Kyla snapped. "I don't wanna work with a brat like you, but I guess I have to if I want to get back to my plans of uglifying the world's population of pretty people! Now then, bust us out of this cell!"

Chris sighed. "Sure, but first, tell me who your friend over there is."

She pointed to the man in the center of the room who had been totally silent the entire time. In a sea of familiar faces, she did not recognize his. He grinned at her acknowledging his presence, sitting up from the bed he had been lying down on.

"So, you finally noticed me, eh?" he said with a sly smile. "Nice outfit, by the way. What are you, one of Jerry's newest agents?"

"As if. Like I'd ever work for a scumbag like Jerry Lewis. I'm a spy for SOAP."

"...SOAP? You mean Spies Organized Against Peace?" the man replied. There was the slightest hint of shock in his tone as he spoke. "Wow. I've heard some stories about that group. If you're telling the truth, you must be a pretty good spy. Well, for a little girl, at least."

"Tch! I'm not a little girl!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you're right," the man said, shrugging. The way he was smirking was beginning to drive Chris mad. "My name is Tad, by the way. I'm a former WOOHP agent. In fact, I used to be Jerry's favorite. Then...then those **girls** showed up and ruined everything! Thanks to them, I'm stuck behind bars like the rest of these lowlifes!"

"H-Hey! W-We're sitting right here, you know!" said Kyla.

"By 'those girls' I'm presuming you're talking about Sam, Alex, and Clover," said Chris.

One of Tad's eyelids began jerking around in response to hearing those names.

"...Yes, that's right," he answered. "...You know them then?"

"...More than I would like to, yes."

"Then you know the pain and suffering their mere presence causes!"

"Er...sure, why not?"

"Listen, if you're going to bust my roommates here out, you might as well free me as well! Then, I can finally get my revenge on those three no good spies for stealing my place in WOOHP! I can get Jerry back too for forsaking me!"

Chris smiled at this. "What a coincidence. I too have some unfinished business with Jerry Lewis. I suppose we can destroy him together then."

"Perfect! Well then, let's try to get along for the time being."

"I'm glad to see you two have become acquainted," said Heisenberg. "Nevertheless, we're wasting time. Christine, free us before the guards show up. They like to make their rounds every twenty minutes to check up on us."

"Yeah! Get a move on already!" added Kyla.

Growling at being rushed, Chris shifted her focus on the controls to the cell door. The mechanism was apparently triggered by both a fingerprint and retinal scanner, just like the doors she had encountered earlier. Getting the required DNA would be more trouble than it was worth and without the proper tools, she hadn't a hope of hacking through the security system. As such, she opted to just stab at it with her dagger. This did the trick, as the door cutting her new accomplices off from the outside door slid open.

"Very good, Christine," said Heisenberg, breathing in some fresh air. "Rather unorthodox tactics, but very good nonetheless. Still, I never saw this day coming. How ironic that you were the one to have me thrown in here, yet now you're here freeing me."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut it, old man. Let's just get to work."

"Phew! It feels good to be out of that dumb cell!" said Kyla. "It was more cramped in there than a runway!"

"What does that even mean?"

"Alright! It's about time I've been let out of that damn cell!" said Tad. "I should never have been placed in there to begin with!"

"Quit yapping!" yelled Chris all of the sudden. "If you three have the energy to talk about nothing, you better know something about how to get out of here!"

Kyla shrugged. "Er...I wasn't really paying attention when they brought me here."

"I, however, was a tad bit more observant," said Heisenberg. "The security system here is state of the art. In fact, it's the most advanced I've ever seen. Simply waltzing out the front door will be an impossibility thanks to the hundreds of agents swarming around this place. They'll most likely be armed to the teeth with gadgets as well."

"He's right. Even if we managed to get past them, the automated weapon system installed would get us," Tad explained.

"Agh. So, we're going to have to find a way to sneak past everyone while not triggering that weapon system then?" asked Chris. "Is there a ventilation system in this building? I'd imagine no one would be watching that, so we could easily sneak out through there. If I only had a map of this place, I could..."

"Here you are," said Heisenberg, handing Chris the map she wished for. "I've already had that prepared. The entire building, along with its exits and entry points, are accurate to the last closet. I'm sure you'll find it quite handy."

"H-How did you...?"

"Heh. I have my ways."

Chris looked at Kyla for some clarification.

"D-Don't ask me!" she replied. "He always says creepy stuff like that..."

"I'm the one that helped make that map," said Tad. "Working here at one time has its perks. Like the old man said, it should be one hundred percent accurate. I can't imagine Jerry's changed the layout of the place that much anyway."

Heisenberg stated, "We should be moving now. Something tells me the guards are going to be right around the corner."

Almost on cue, a guard did indeed appear from around the corner, whistling and twirling a ring of keys in his hand as he walked. He stopped his pleasant tune upon catching sight of the four individuals up ahead.

"H-Hey! What are you all doing there?!" he inquired. "Escaped prisoners?! I better call this one in!"

"Yeah, that's our cue to go!" Chris told her cohorts. "Come on! Move it!"

"A-Alright, alright! You sure are bossy!" said Kyla.

The four went on their way and their footsteps clanked across the steel flooring, just as the guard called out to them to come back.

* * *

The ventilation shaft on the map Chris was given was fortunately rather close to her current position. Locating it and climbing inside of it as such was a piece of cake. With her cohorts in tow, the group made their way through the maze like steel, making sure to keep their voices hushed and their whereabouts a secret from their pursuers. At least, that's what Chris assumed. The fact that Kyla and Heisenberg were arguing about something at the moment made her reconsider her position.

"H-Hey! Quit touching my butt, you pervert!" Kyla screamed in a whisper. "I-It's already bad enough we're in this tight space! Keep your hands to yourself, old man!"

"I am doing nothing of the sort," said Heisenberg in response.

"Tch! Hey, brat! How come I couldn't have gone in the front?!" Kyla asked Chris.

"Because I'm the one with the map, meaning I'm the one that needs to be in the lead. And don't call me brat. My name is...it doesn't matter. Old man, quit touching her butt or whatever so she'll shut up."

"Like I just said, I am not touching her bottom. At least, not on purpose. It's so big, it's rather hard to avoid from back here."

Kyla's face reddened. "W-What's **that **supposed to mean?!"

"Stop screwing around!" sad Tad, who was in the rear. "Do you two want us to be found out?! Chris, where are you leading us? We've been crawling around in this filthy thing for awhile now!"

"You three are so unreasonable." Chris shook her head. "Judging from the map, we should be headed for the weapons laboratory. An exit to this place isn't far from there."

Tad grinned. "Good! We can stock up on gadgets to aid in our escape."

Without warning, Kyla let out a high pitched scream that nearly shattered the eardrums of everyone around.

"S-Seriously! Cut it out!" she cried at Heisenberg.

"B-Be quiet!" said an irate Chris. "You really are trying to get us caught, aren't you?!"

"I'm sorry, but that old guy touched my butt again!"

This time, both Kyla and Chris glared at Heisenberg like he were the scum of the earth. He put his hands up defensively, while the slightest hint of guilt painted his features.

"...I assure you both, it's not what you think," he pleaded, adjusting his thick glasses. "I did not mean to touch her inappropriately again. However, Miss Sacks, I must commend you. Your bottom is quite...exquisite."

That was the last straw. Kyla, with reddened eyes, lashed out at Heisenberg in an attempt to tear out his eyes. The only thing the saved the old man from certain death was Chris holding his attacker back.

"W-Would you calm down?! You're acting like an idiot!" Chris stated.

"Pervert! Sicko! Jerk!" said Kyla, clawing her fingers in vain at the good doctor.

"I-I said calm down! You're gonna...!"

Chris' plea was too late. The commotion inside the vent was too much for it to bear and it broke apart from the sheer amount of weight holding it down. Everyone tumbled out of the opening and onto the ground, as wreckage landed all around them. Pulling a screw out of her hair, Chris growled in anger at the stupidity of what had just occurred.

"K-Kyla, you idiot! I told you...!"

Chris, stopping her mad rant, looked around in wonderment at her new surroundings. The room, dark and expansive, was filled to the teeth with gadgets, gizmos, and other objects to make a spy like her salivate. There was no doubt in her mind that this was the weapons laboratory stated on the map. As luck would have it, no one other than she and her companions were inside the room.

"...I don't know whether to punch you in the mouth or thank you for getting us here, Kyla."

"Er...I-I'll take the other thing you said if that's okay," Kyla said behind a few nervous chuckles.

"Heh. Looks like we've hit the jackpot," said Tad.

"Indeed. Most of the items in here look quite impressive," added Heisenberg. "It's nothing compared to my work though."

"Tch. A can opener is more efficient than half the stuff you make," said Chris harshly.

The remark made Heisenberg frown, though he offered it no retort.

"I'm not really into this kind of stuff, so let's find something useful and get out of here," chimed Kyla.

"Agreed," said Chris. She walked over to another part of the room and something in particular caught her eye. "Now, what do we have here?"

The item looked to be some kind of laser, albeit an over sized one. She picked it up and let out a grunt immediately because of the weapon's immense weight. How anyone was supposed to fire it accurately was beyond her.

"That's the Evapoblaster," said Tad. "Basically, it fires high intensity blasts of heat at whoever or whatever you point it at. Needless to say, it'll leave someone with a rather nasty burn."

"It just sounds like a glorified hair dryer to me," replied Chris. "I guess I'll hang onto it though. It might just come in handy."

She strapped the weapon to her back using a rope, finding it easier to lug it about that way.

"Oh! What do we have here? This should do wonders for my skin!"

Kyla was about to pick up a tube of lotion sitting on a table, but Tad hastily got over to her and grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"T-That's...not the kind of lotion I think you're looking for," he told her. "It's Stun Tan Lotion that paralyzes anyone it comes in contact with."

"H-Haha...t-that's not what I had in mind for my skin," she replied. "M-Maybe I'll just put it in my pocket instead..."

"So, what is this interesting looking object here?" Heisenberg asked Tad.

"I-I'm not your personal tour guide, guys!" said Tad in irritation.

"True, but having worked here before, you would have extensive knowledge of every gadget in this room. As such, it would be far safer to ask you than to blow ourselves to pieces not knowing what these object do."

"...Well, I guess you've got a point. That thing you're pointing to is the Hologram Projecting Mood Ring. You put it on and it can disguise you and whoever else you want."

"Fascinating. Escaping should be easy using this then. The four of us could masquerade as WOOHP employees and walk right out the front door."

"That's actually a good idea," said Chris.

"Yeah, it would be, but that ring's effects only last for a short time, so I doubt we'd be able to get out of this place before then," Tad explained. "Anyway, let's get going. I'm just going to take this handy little gadget here for myself."

Chris watched as Tad picked up some type of ray gun. Other than it being metallic and a slightly funny looking, nothing about it stood out to her.

The doors to the room began to open suddenly, alerting Chris.

"Quick! Hide!" she warned.

"I have a much better idea," said Heisenberg.

He slipped the Hologram Projecting Mood Ring onto one of his fingers as two WOOHP scientists walked into the room. The conversation they were having was broken off when they sighted four janitors attending to the room. One of them gave the duo a curt nod and went back to work. With nothing amiss, the scientists began speaking again, while the janitors grabbed their things and left. The second they got outside, a bright light went through the hallway, revealing Chris and company.

"That worked better than I thought it would," said Chris, smiling. "Tad was right though. That Mood Ring's effect really doesn't last that long."

"A pity," said Heisenberg. "Still, it's a handy little thing. I think I'll hold onto it."

"So, where do we go now?" asked Kyla.

"According to the map, the conference room. An exit to this place will be right past it," replied Chris. "It certainly doesn't look hard, but something tells me it's going to be anything but easy."

"Huh? What's so hard about going through a conference room?" said Kyla.

"The fact that it's going to be crawling with WOOHP agents is a good reason," said Tad. "Considering what time it is, Jerry should be having a meeting with his agents at this very moment."

"Tsk! So you're telling me we're going to have to find away to sneak past the entirety of WOOHP in one go?"

Chris already knew the answer to her question. She just wished there was some other alternative. Checking the map one more time, she saw that the next exit would take too long to get to because they would have to trek around the facility again. The one near the conference room was there only hope of a clean getaway.

"It's unfortunate we don't have my robots here to gives us a hand," said Heisenberg.

"T-That would just make our situation worse," Chris informed him.

"Why are we just standing around?" asked Tad. "Jerry **has** to know that we've all escaped by now. Strange though. Why isn't the alarm..."

Perhaps to mock Tad, the alarm system sprang to life and an irritating noise sounded throughout the building. Chris took it as a sign to get moving and continue her desperate escape.

* * *

Thanks to the capabilities of the Hologram Projecting Mood Ring, the four were able to disguise themselves as WOOHP agents and slip into the current meeting inside the conference room while receiving only a few glances. The room was even bigger than the map showed and Chris had to squint to see the exit it told of. It was there though, meaning she and the others were just one final trek away from freedom.

"I-I don't know if this is a good idea," said a nervous Kyla, who was looking around apprehensively. "I mean, look at how many WOOHP agents there are around here!"

"Relax! They don't know who we really are, so let's keep moving!" Chris replied.

"Good idea. I don't know how long the Mood Ring'll last this time around," said Tad.

"Just a moment," said Heisenberg abruptly. "Christine, look at the head of the room."

Chris, confused, leered at the spot Heisenberg was pointing to and saw none other than Jerry Lewis speaking to everyone present from behind a podium. The SOAP agent's face contorted into one of rage and ire, yet she knew she could do nothing but glance at the man that took everything away from her, as escaping his accursed building took higher precedence at the moment.

"...Let's keep moving," she told her companions through clenched teeth.

The four did just that, making sure their movements were as inconspicuous as possible.

"It is vitally important that we track down those three escapees! I fear to think what they are capable of if left alone!" Jerry stated to those watching him. "They were last seen near the weapons lab, so they should still be in the area! As soon as this meeting is adjourned, I want all of you to scour this building completely! Don't even leave a single tile unscathed! They are being led around by a very dangerous woman, so...!"

His speech stammered off when he couldn't help but notice four of his agents attempting to sneak past him and toward the nearby double doors. Everyone else in the room saw this as well.

"You four there," Jerry started. "Where exactly are you going? Can't you see we're having a meeting here?!"

"Er...t-there's something we need to attend to," said Chris in a deep voice that sounded nothing like a man's.

"Whatever it is you need to do, this takes higher precedence! Please, sit down!"

Chris growled at this. Not wanting to blow she and the others cover, she grudgingly nodded at Jerry's words and did as told.

"N-Now what?!" Chris whispered to Heisenberg, seething.

"Hmm? How am I supposed to know? You're the leader here. You think up something."

"S-Since when have **I** been the leader of this rag tag band of crooks and villains?!"

"That doesn't matter right now, leader," answered Tad.

"I-I just told you, I'm not...!"

A man sitting next to Chris told her to be quiet with the gesture of his finger. It took everything in her power not to rip it off.

"W-We need a distraction!" said Kyla in a hushed panic. "We can't just sit here forever! They'll figure out who we really are!"

"Leave it to me."

Chris had just the thing in mind to get everyone out of this jam. Just as the effects of the Mood Ring wore off, she pulled out the Evapoblaster and aimed it forward, at Jerry Lewis specifically. Her finger pulled back on the trigger, but the recoil from the gun caused her to miss her intended target. Instead, the area behind Jerry was destroyed by the high intensity blast, flooring him and scattering rubble and debris everywhere.

"M-My word! What in the world was that?!" he asked.

A number of his men rushed on stage to check up on him, giving Chris the opportunity she needed. She first catapulted herself into the air with the assistance of someone's face before landing in the middle of the room. The exit was just up ahead now. It didn't take long for the WOOHP agents present to surround her, however, cutting her off. There were no gaps and their formation and smacking her lips, she wasn't sure how she was going to get out of her latest quandary.

"A little help here, guys?!" she hollered at her cohorts.

From the sea of spies around her, she could see her four companions running toward the exit, rather than trying to give her a hand. The only reason they stopped was because the glare she was giving them was like knives in their backs.

"J-Just what do you think you all are doing?!" she inquired.

"Er...i-it's nothing...personal!" Kyla informed her anxiously. "I just...**really** have to go!"

"I disagree," said Heisenberg. "While we were allies for this occasion, Christine, don't forget you're the reason Miss Kyla and I were thrown in here in the first place. As such, we are still enemies, so you shouldn't be so surprised we double crossed you like this. Still, I must thank you for your assistance today. I couldn't have made it this far without you!"

"As for me, I don't have anything against you, kid," said Tad, smiling. "I just can't let an opportunity like this pass me by."

Chris' features reddened. "Y-You no good, dirty...!"

"Now, now there! Here, take this. This should make you feel a bit better."

Tad tossed the strange gun he had picked up earlier and Chris managed to catch it. Staring at it quietly, she wondered if Tad expected her to thank him.

"...I swear, if WOOHP doesn't get to you three first, I **will**!"

Heisenberg, Kyla, and Tad all laughed at the threat, making Chris growl even more. They then made their exit. This left Chris on her lonesome and it seemed as if she would end up replacing the three escapees in their cell.

"You've gone far enough, Christine." Jerry made his way through the crowd until he and Chris were standing face to face. "You're parents would be truly disappointed in you if they saw you now."

"You've already said that. Besides, I think they would be far more disappointed in **you** for going on all these years acting like you've no blood on your hands! I'll never forgive you for what you've done, Jerry Lewis!"

Jerry sighed. "...That doesn't matter now, does it? My agents are about to apprehend you and put an end to this little escape plan of yours."

"They'll have to actually lay a finger on me to do that!"

The short chat had given Chris' mind enough time to work its magic. Her fingers reached up to the Guardian Bracelet on her wrist, activating it and knocking those that were too close to her aside. Storming through everyone else like a bowling ball, Chris charged her way toward freedom.

"A-After her! Don't let her get away!" Jerry shouted at the groaning bodies of his men.

A few of them certainly tried to heed his orders, yet ended up tripping over another pile of agents. Jerry could only palm his hand across his face at this.

* * *

Stumbling as she made her way into an empty hallway, Chris checked the crumpled map in her possession for the direction of an exit. She didn't care which one, so long as it got her on the outside world.

"Tch! I should have seen this coming!" she muttered to herself. "Heisenberg and those other jerks are going to pay! Then again, I was planning on turning my back on them the second I got a chance, so perhaps I don't have any right to complain."

She had no clue where her feet were guiding her, though they were at least getting her farther and farther away from the multitude of cries and shouts trailing her. They ran her down yet another corridor, stopping when she sighted three figures up ahead that made her gasp in shock. The three standing in front of her responded with cries of their own.

"**C**-**CHRIS**?!" said an absolutely astounded Sam. "W-What in the world are **you** doing here?! How could you have...?!"

"...You three?!" said Chris. "Argh. You girls were the last people I wanted to run into..."

"W-Wait a sec! **You're** that evil SOAP spy?!" cried a pointing Alex. "N-No way!"

"I can't believe I shared so many fashion tips with someone like you!" said Clover, who was clearly upset about the revelation. "Like, I seriously can't believe this!"

Chris, after a short pause, stated, "...I guess it's better this way. Something tells me you three were going to find out eventually, so now's as good a time as any. That's not important right now though. I'm going to need you three to get out of my way. I have to get out of this place!"

"Not a chance!" Sam replied. "...E-Even if it is you, Chris, as WOOHP agents, we have to stop you!"

The three WOOHP spies got into a fighting stance, quietly assuring Chris they weren't backing down. Biting her lip at this, Chris sighed and saw she had no other choice but to get serious as well. She figured it would be easier than this, but attacking a friend was a harder prospect than she figured.

_Friend? Jeez, now they've got me using that word..._

"I really don't want to do this," she mumbled. "Let's just hope this thing works."

With a heavy heart, Chris pulled out the gun Tad had gifted to her and aimed it straight ahead. The mere gesture made her three foes shriek in terror, as Chris debated on what to do next. Time was working against her, so she banished the doubt hanging over her and pulled back on the trigger. A bright flash of light then shrouded everything in sight. For a moment, Chris wasn't certain if the blast had taken her out as well as her opponent. However, we she got her vision back, she saw that the only casualties were Sam, Alex, and Clover. That yellow ray had knocked the three of them unconscious.

"Huh. They aren't even hurt that much. Tch. That ray gun was a total bust." she said as she inspected them. "Still, maybe I betterfinish them off while I have the chance."

There might not have been another opportunity to do so. Even so, she decided to stay her hand. It mostly had to do with the approaching footsteps from the adjacent hallway, yet apart of her felt the idea wasn't the least bit gratifying for some reason. As such, she turned her focus back on escaping WOOHP HQ.

_I just hope Sam and the others aren't __**too**__ mad at me..._

* * *

"...You have got to be kidding me!"

Chris couldn't help but shout after seeing that the area the secret exit to the building was supposed to be in was nothing more than the garbage room. Holding her nose from the rank smell of the place with one hand, she used the other to angrily tear up her map into little, tiny pieces. Apart of her theorized if she had been misled on purpose by the object. Heisenberg and Tad had created it, after all, and Heisenberg at least had his reasons to lead her astray.

"I'm going to need to figure something out and fast!"

The WOOHP agents Jerry had sent after her would be there in no time, so going back wasn't an option. Neither the Guardian Bracelet or the strange gun Tad had given her would be of much use either. The Evapoblaster might have done her some good if she hadn't dropped it back in the conference room while trying to flee. The only other thing she could think to do was hide, yet there was no suitable place to do so. The area was a wide open space of rotten debris and the last thing she wanted to do was immerse herself in filth.

"...What am I saying? For a moment there, I was actually worried about getting my clothes dirty. I've seriously been spending far too much time around Sam, Alex, and Clover."

Her brain, ready to call it quits, was drawing blanks on her next action and in frustration, she began pounding her fist on the large dumpster sitting in the middle of the room. Without her noticing, her limb hit a hidden switch on the green box. This in turn made an opening appear on its side, one that wasted little time in pulling her in. The next thing she knew, she was sliding down yet another chute she had no idea even existed.

"T-This building makes no sense! I-It just sucks you up left and right!"

Her confusion increased ten fold when the tunnel dropped her off outside the building somehow. More specifically, it was the rooftop of WOOHP HQ. Chris half near lost her balance on the edge of the building because the tunnel had dumped her off at a rather precarious position. Regaining her footing, she looked ahead at an approaching silhouette and moved herself to get a better look at it. Unsurprisingly, the person ended up being someone Chris was quite acquainted with.

"You certainly are persistent," she told Jerry Lewis. "How strange though. You don't have any of your men with you this time. What, are you finally offering yourself up to be finished?"

"Relax, Christine. I'm not here to fight this time around," Jerry replied.

"Really now? That just makes one of us then."

"Like I said, I don't want to fight. I simply came here to ask you something, something that has been on my mind for a little while now. What is it that Scar has been telling you about your parent's fate all these years? While it is true they perished while they were out on a mission for me, I was not the one to end their lives."

"...If you think I'm going to fall for you lies, you're wasting your breath!"

"I speak only the truth, Christine. I can tell you **everything** about what happened on that terrible day you lost your parents, far more than Scar could ever claim to."

The proposition made a small part of Chris flinch. Certainly, Jerry had to have been lying to her right now. She figured he was just saying anything to delay his impending demise. Nevertheless, her curiosity was peaking. What if Jerry's words weren't total deceit? If he knew something about her parents she didn't, she wanted to know. There was so little Scar had told her about their deaths that the idea of acquiring more information on the subject was now burning in her head.

* * *

Before Jerry could begin explaining whatever it was he wanted to tell her, a black helicopter came racing toward the two. It crawled to a hover over the building and while it did, a long ladder was thrown down from the inside. Standing on it was the lead of Spies Organized Against Peace himself, Scar. Chris assumed she must have been seeing things when she spotted him, as there was no way he could actually be there with her now. Scar was real alright, proving it by flipping off the ladder and taking a spot next to her.

"My apologizes, Christine. I didn't mean to take so long getting to you."

"...S-Scar? What are you doing here?! A-And don't call me by my real name!"

"Ah, of course. My apologizes again. Anyway, I figured something was wrong when you didn't contact me after stating you were going to go after that invention back at Malibu University. I did some snooping around and found out you were captured by WOOHP. As such, I rushed here as fast as I could."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get caught. I...screwed up."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that. I'm impressed you managed to escape though. I presumed I would have to break into WOOHP headquarters myself and break you out, but you've done a magnificent job of looking after yourself, it seems. Anyway, don't you listen to a single word this foul man has to say to you, Agent C! I assure you, anything Jerry Lewis has to tell you is nothing more than a lie! Remember, this is the man who killed your parents! You shouldn't place even an ounce of trust in him!"

"But..."

"Have faith in me, Agent C. I wouldn't steer you wrong."

Any doubts Chris held were washed away by Scar's words.

_H-He's absolutely right!_

Jerry Lewis was the enemy here, the man she had hated with all her being for as long as she could remember. Why should she change her opinion of him now?

"I won't be swayed so easily by your torrent of lies!" she said to Jerry.

"Is there no way to get through to you?" he replied. "A pity."

"It's been a long time, Jerry," said Scar.

"Indeed it has. You've apparently decided not to change your evil ways after all this time. I just wish I could have gotten to Christine before you were able to corrupt her."

"Does it bother you that she's one of my loyal subordinates now, Jerry? If you ask me, I think it's all for the best. I'm certain this arrangement is what her parents would have wanted, after all. Now then, I didn't solely come here to chat and catch up like this. I believe it's time we finished things, Jerry!"

"Yes, I believe so as well. However, things aren't going to play out like you think."

Jerry pulled out an item Chris knew all to well: the Evapoblaster.

"I think you know this one rather well, Scar. You helped me develop it after all," Jerry stated. "Don't worry. I've set the weapon to merely incapacitate you both. I wouldn't want your cell in the containment facility to grow cold, after all."

As he forced his finger back on the trigger, Chris sprung into action immediately. She shoved Scar out of harm's way and then pointed her own gun at Jerry. She and her target were hit by their respective blasts at the same time and both crumpled to the floor in broken heaps. Though she was in intense pain, Chris smiled gleefully at the result of her efforts.

"I finally...got him..."

* * *

Everything that occurred afterward was nothing more than a blur to her.

Waking up in foreign places was becoming something of a recurrence for Chris. Taking that into account, she wasn't the least bit baffled at her awaking in the nurse's office of Mali-U. The white curtain in front of her bed sliding open wasn't a shock to her either. Neither was the smiling face of Nurse Melody Jenkins leering at her presently.

"Aloha!" greeted the bespectacled woman. She was a bit too cheerful in Chris' opinion. "How is my patient doing this morning?"

"I've been better," Chris admitted. Her whole body was sore for some reason and she guessed it must have been a result of being hit by the Evapoblaster. "W-Why am I here?"

"I guess you **wouldn't** remember a thing, considering what happened," Melody replied, as she looked Chris over with a couple of medical instruments. "You **did** have quite the traumatic experience!"

"...Traumatic experience?"

"That's right! You fell down three whole flights of stairs!"

Hearing this made Chris want to fall on her head. That certainly wasn't how she recalled things.

"All done!" Melody finished her examination of Chris by checking inside her ears. Chris was confused by this, since her ears should have been the least of the nurse's concern. "You sure are a lucky girl, Chris! You didn't even have a single broken bone in your body! Now that I think about it, that's...kinda strange, but all's well that end's well, right? Now then, I want you to stay here a little longer and get some more rest. We can't have you up and walking around for at least another couple of days just to be on the safe side!"

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me! Just doing my job. If there's anyone you **should** thank, it's these three for bringing you here as fast as they did!"

"What three?"

Melody pulled back another sheet near Chris' bed and Chris gasped louder than she meant to at the sight of Sam, Clover, and Alex staring back at her. The three, seeming as if they were on the verge of tears, wasted little time pouncing on her and hugging her like she was going to vanish into thin air.

"You're alive!" Sam cried. "W-We were worried **sick** about you, Chris!"

"Totally!" said Clover. "We so thought you were gonna kick the bucket! Uh...y-you wouldn't have minded if I had gone through your closet if you had thought, right? I mean, you wouldn't have needed anything in there anyway!"

Sam and Alex both glared at Clover, who twiddled her fingers in embarrassment.

"You don't have brain damage, do you?!" Alex asked Chris, grabbing her head and inspecting it as if she could tell just from doing so.

"N-No..." said Chris, as she shoved Alex back. "I'm fine."

Something was wrong. The way her friends were acting, Chris would have guessed their run in at WOOHP HQ hadn't even happened. Though confused, she decided to play along for the time being until she determined what was going on.

"Here, Chris. I bought you this book," said Sam, who handed Chris a thick text book that nearly broke the recipient's arms because of its sheer weight. "It's 'Everything You Need To Know About Bones and You!' I figure it'll give you something to do while you're stuck in here and besides, it's a really interesting read!"

"...Don't tell me you've already read it?" asked Chris.

"Just...two or three times," Sam replied, blushing.

"...Thank you. Can one of you please tell me though how I got here? What's this about me falling down some stairs or whatever?"

"Er...that's the part we can't remember too clearly for some reason," said Clover, scratching her head. "I'm pretty sure we found you unconscious outside of the campus. Yeah, that's it! Then there was this...man who told us what happened to you and to get you to the nurse's office as soon as possible!"

"Scar..." said Chris under her breath.

There was no doubt in her mind Scar was the man Clover spoke of. She also deduced he was the one who told Sam and the others such a ridiculous story about her injuries as a cover for what really happened.

"I think it's about time you three got off to class," Nurse Melody informed Chris' friends. "I'll never forgive you, Sam, if you end up missing my big Physics 101 test!"

Sam gulped.

Melody, smiling again, turned to Chris and informed her, "I'm excusing you from this test due to the circumstances. Don't worry about the rest of your classes either. Just rest easy here for the time being!"

Nodding, Chris watched Melody literally shove everyone else out of the room as they said their goodbye. Soon enough, Chris was left by herself and sitting back in her bed, she let out a sigh of relief. Somehow, things had turned out alright in the end, although she had no idea why. Perhaps wishing to answer than question, something on her person began to beep out of the blue.

"Hmm?" Chris reached into her pocket and grabbed something that was most definitely her Z-Powder. "Huh? Didn't this get taken while I was at WOOHP?"

She shrugged and opened the gadget to see the image of Scar on the top screen waving at her. For some reason, her first reaction to the salutation was to roll her eyes.

"Hello, Agent C. How are you doing today?"

"F-Fine, I suppose. I'm just really, **really** confused right now."

"A natural response, considering what happened to you. You took a rather nasty shot from that Evapoblaster. It's quite fortunate Jerry Lewis had no plans to kill you because otherwise, I would be planning your funeral right now."

"Yeah that...makes me feel better. Now then, you wanna tell me why everyone thinks I'm a clumsy oaf that can't even go down a staircase?"

Scar chuckled. "Ah, yes. That. Naturally, I couldn't just tell those at your university what **really** happened to you, so I made up that whole story about you falling. I think it worked out quite nicely if I do say so myself."

"Tch. If you ask me, the excuse was really lousy. Everyone here seems to have fallen for it though, so I guess that's all that matters. Still, why bring me to the nurse's office after telling everyone such a preposterous story? Wouldn't it have made more sense for you to tell them to take me to a hospital?"

"...Hmm. You know, I think you're right!"

Chris growled and simply wished she could claw at her boss from the screen of her Z-Powder for his stupidity.

"By the way, Agent, I need to thank you for saving my life. That was quite brave of you to risk your neck for mine, but then again, I would expect nothing less from a spy of your caliber."

"Don't mention it. Tell me something though. What was Jerry talking about back there at WOOHP when he said he would tell me everything that happened the day my parents died? I thought you said you had told me everything there was to know about that."

Scar's expressions shifted slightly at Chris' question, despite him trying to hide this from her. It wasn't a look she was accustomed to and as such, she wasn't sure what he was thinking at the moment.

"...Forget his words, Agent C. As I said before, they were filled with nothing but lies."

"B-But..."

"I'm not asking you, Agent..."

"...Alright," Chris replied. She knew better than to press the issue. "Answer me this then. Those WOOHP spies just paid me a visit, yet they don't seem to remember discovering my identity. Why is that?"

"Something most fortunate happened, it seems. Remember that strange gun you used on Jerry Lewis? I've done some analysis on it and it turns out the weapon is actually some sort of memory eraser. It only erases short term memory, of course, but thanks to it, it seems your identity is safe once more. Only the two of us know for certain the events of yesterday."

Chris let out a sigh of relief at this. "Jeez. It might have been dumb luck that saved me, but I'll take it. That was a little too close."

"Indeed it was. Well then, I believe I will allow you to get some rest. I will contact you if I have any new assignments for you."

As Chris closed her Z-Powder, she noted that Scar having nothing for her to do was a relief this time.

"Maybe I'll actually get some rest like everyone wants me to..."

* * *

"C-Chris? Are you in here?"

Chris, jumping to a sitting position, cupped her hand over her ear in confusion, since the voice she had just perceived was awfully familiar. It was one that made her heart race and she understood why once she spotted Dyson Glee out of the corner of her eye. Sheepishly, he moved his head out from the door, though he shot into the room when he confirmed that it was Chris leering back at him.

"Chris! Are you alright?" he asked. "I heard what happened to you and got over here as fast as I could! Huh, y-you...look pretty good for someone who tripped and fell down the stairs!"

"Er...t-thank you...?"

"Here. I brought you some flowers. Hope you're not allergic."

Chris took the breathtaking bouquet of roses and peered at them in wonderment for a couple seconds. Her eyes the made their way back over to Dyson and she was honestly lost for words.

"T-Thank you again," she muttered. "They're...beautiful."

"Er...you can consider them an apology for everything I've done. Actually, I'm not sure what I did in the first place, but I feel like I did something horrible to you, so...yeah!"

Chris nodded at his words, figuring WOOHP must have erased his memory.

"It really sucks my parents got arrested," he added. "They're doing alright though! They've basically promised not to ride me so hard about my running career, so that's good."

"That's...good."

There was a short silence where Chris was unable to come up with anything else to say. She did always feel sustaining a conversation was never one of her strong suits.

"You...probably don't even want to see me right now," Dyson said suddenly. "I guess that's fair. I mean, after what I did, whatever it was, I wouldn't want to talk to me either."

"NO!" Chris shouted. She covered her mouth in a fluster when she saw how loud she was. "N-No. T-That's not it. I'm actually...really glad I got to...see you today..."

Her face became hot at her own statements and she desperately wanted to hide herself under her covers. Expecting a tirade of laughter from Dyson, he instead gave her the warmest smile she could ever recall receiving.

"I'm...really glad to hear that! Really! T-That means a lot coming from you because I really like you, Chris." he stated. Now blushing, Dyson looked away from Chris. "Uh...t-the Track team is having practice tomorrow morning! I know you're in no condition to run with us, but if you just want to come and watch us for the time being..."

Chris slowly nodded her head. "O-Okay. I'll...come tomorrow then."

"Great!" replied an overjoyed Dyson. "E-Er...I-I mean...t-that's good!"

After another brief silence, the two found themselves laughing at nothing in particular.

"Well, I'll let you get your rest. See you tomorrow, Chris!"

Dyson left, though Chris was tempted to tell him not to. At least she would see him again tomorrow, she thought. If she were lucky, perhaps he would even ask her out on another date.

_W-Wait...! W-What am I even saying?!_

END


End file.
